Plans to use a hotel to accommodate 500 asylum seekers will ‘decimate’ the local economy as councillors have urged the Government to reconsider this location after a two-year contract was signed with the hotel.
It emerged on Thursday that the D Hotel in Drogheda was to take in hundreds of refugees. This news was met with serious concern from local representatives who have said that over half of the rooms used for local tourism will now be gone.
An emergency meeting among local representatives was held last night as councillors described the decision to host the refugees in the tourist town without informing them in due time as ‘disgraceful’.
Following the meeting, Drogheda Councillors wrote to Integration Minister Roderic O’Gorman seeking an ‘urgent meeting’ with him to discuss the plans.
In a statement issued after the meeting, signed by all ten members of Drogheda Borough District, they said the decision was to the great detriment of efforts to develop tourism in the county and was taken ‘without any consultation at all prior to announcing the decision’.
They said that a ‘total lack of communication’, from the minister and his department was ‘unacceptable’ and has caused a situation to arise where Drogheda will suffer financially and where there is a risk to those working in Drogheda of losing their jobs, RTÉ reported.
Councillor Pio Smith said the town should ‘never have been put in this position’ and added that news of the incoming refugees was met with ‘disbelief’ by locals.
He said: ‘People were fearful of the fact that there was going to be 56% of our tourist accommodation taken out of town in one fell swoop.
‘So, there’s a lot of concern then in regards to what the impact that was going to have on the business community and jobs in the area,’ he told RTÉ’s Morning Ireland.
Cllr Smith added that people were not against having asylum seekers in the town in general but said that it appeared that the concerns of those who live in the area are an afterthought.
He added: ‘People are not averse to international protection applicants coming into the town. The reality is that there has been no consultation really with the local authority or local politicians and the local businesses. And it just seems like it’s a fait accompli’.
Speaking about the effect on local tourism, Mr Smith said that there could have been ways to house the refugees without halving the amount of beds available to people on their holidays.
Deputy Mayor of Drogheda Kevin Callan has said the announcement was made without any prior consultation with Louth County Council or the elected representatives of the council and said that ministerial intervention is required as a matter of urgency to reverse the move.
The decision, according to Cllr Callan, will affect the town in the form of business closures and job losses.
‘The facts in this instance are very clear, a deal has been done by the hotel to sign over the accommodation capacity provide accommodation in the very heart of a historic tourist destination town.’
‘A town which has benefited greatly from having so many visitors to the area, and the Boyne Valley, who base themselves in the heart of the town,’ he said.
In a statement, the owners of Drogheda’s D Hotel said they wish ‘to clarify a number of points’.
‘The new owners, Fairkeep Ltd, purchased the hotel in October 2023. They have entered into an agreement with the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth for the next two years.
‘The contract will be to accommodate international protection applicants; families, mothers and children in their 113-bedroom hotel located along the Boyne.’
‘The D Hotel was built 25 years ago and the intention of the owners is to reinvest the funds paid to them from this contract directly into renovating the hotel.’
‘The hotel owners are committed to ensuring the longevity of the hotel for the next 25 years. They wish to point out that the function rooms and bar will continue to stay open for the public.’
