Justice department rejects alternative accommodation for Cahirciveen asylum seekers

Locals and residents of the Skellig Star direct provision centre united in protest. Picture: Alan Landers

The Department of Justice has rejected an offer of alternative accommodation for asylum seekers who want to be moved from a controversial direct provision centre in south Kerry.

The offer was made by the hotelier who used to run the Skellig Star hotel in Cahirciveen before it was converted to a direct provision centre in March. The centre has been mired in controversy since an outbreak of Covid-19 last month with asylum seekers, local people and politicians all calling for it to be shut down.

Jude Kirk, who also owns a hotel in Derrynane, 25km away, wrote to the Department offering to house asylum seekers in eight four-bedroom homes which are on the site of his hotel. He offered the accommodation free of charge while a better option was being sourced.

Mr Kirk, along with Kerry TD Michael Healy Rae and a third investor sold the lease for the hotel to its current owner, businessman Paul Collins, who runs two other DP centres. Mr Kirk and Mr Healy Rae and the third investor, solicitor Gus Cullen, are adamant they had no idea that the hotel would be converted to a DP centre by the new owner. An associate of Mr Healy Rae’s, JJ Harrington, was subsequently employed by the new owner to do construction work in what is now a DP centre.

Mr Kirk said he made the offer of free accommodation because he felt sympathy for the plight of the asylum seekers in a centre which many now say is not fit for purpose.

The rejection of his offer noted that one problem with the offer is that all staff must be garda vetted. The Irish Examiner has learned that the staff in the DP centre in Cahirciveen did not receive full garda vetting for up to two weeks after the asylum seekers moved in.

The department’s response also noted, “I assure you the residents of the centre are very well cared for. We work closely with the HSE on health and wellbeing and the centre is functioning well in these challenging times.”

More than 20 asylum seekers who tested positive have been moved from the centre. Those remaining have protested from the windows of the hotel about the conditions. On Wednesday, local residents served notice of a legal action to have the centre closed down.

Residents to whom the Irish Examiner has spoken continue to be of the opinion that they are not allowed to leave the centre. However, in the Dail, the Minister for Justice, Charlie Flanagan, said that the gate exiting the centre is “on the latch”, and people were free to leave but advised not to.

Socialist TD Mick Barry told the Dail that he had information that “there is a 'Stop' sign on every door out of that centre", along with the words 'Do not leave - not an exit'", but the Minister insisted that the residents are not forcibly confined to the centre.