Dept won't confirm if Kerry direct provision residents were among delegation moved due to virus

On March 18 and 19, just over a week before the country went on lockdown, 70 international protection applicants who were being accommodated at the Travelodge hotel in Swords, north Dublin, were relocated to two dedicated centres elsewhere in the country.

The Department of Justice said: "We cannot comment on or confirm the specific locations to which applicants are relocated for their privacy." File picture.

The Department of Justice has declined to confirm whether or not residents who arrived in mid-March at a direct provision centre in Co Kerry, which has experienced a Covid-19 outbreak in recent days, were among a delegation moved from a hotel in Dublin at the same time last month after it also experienced an outbreak of the virus.

“We cannot comment on or confirm the specific locations to which applicants are relocated for their privacy,” a spokesperson for the Department said.