Department of Integration at loggerheads with Kildare County Council over property

Minister for Integration Roderic O’Gorman had previously informed local representatives and locals in Kildare that the plan to host refugees in Ryevale House was 'consistent with planning law'. Picture: Leah Farrell/Rollingnews.ie

A developer retained by the Department of Integration to accommodate 80 refugees on the site of a protected building has been served with an enforcement order by Kildare County Council.

The local authority issued the enforcement notice, calling for the conversion of protected structure Ryevale House in Leixlip into a multi-occupancy commercial building to be halted, and the building restored to its former state, on May 10.

The notice was issued to builder Derek Hallinan, who works for developer Ronan Mallon, who first acquired Ryevale House for €1.6m last year.

The notice gives Mr Mallon’s firm Coldec Properties six months to comply with its directions or risk the commission of an offence under the Planning and Development Act 2000.

Kildare County Council’s opposition to the conversion of Ryevale House, a listed building, had been well-flagged, with the local authority having issued a letter to the developer on March 10 warning against proceeding with the alteration of the building.

Mixed messages

However, Minister for Integration Roderic O’Gorman had previously informed local representatives and locals in Kildare that the plan to host refugees in Ryevale was “consistent with planning law”.

Last month, Coldec informed Mr O’Gorman that, in the opinion of the company’s planning consultant, the accommodation of the female refugees, who began arriving at Ryevale House on March 31, did not amount to a material change of use from a single-occupancy to a multi-occupancy residence.

On foot of that communication, the minister said he would be ignoring Kildare County Council’s assertion, issued on March 7, that the use of Ryevale as an accommodation centre breached planning law.

He said that while his “department notes the concerns of local residents regarding the use of the property, the department must avail of all accommodation offers made to it in order to meet the basic needs of applicants, to comply with Ireland’s obligations under national and EU law and to prevent homelessness in as far as it can”.

Last week Mr O’Gorman said in a parliamentary question response to Sinn Féin’s Eoin Ó Broin, prior to the issuance of the local authority’s enforcement notice, that until such an enforcement was issued Ryevale would have to be used for refugee housing given the “very real and immediate pressure” the State accommodation system is currently experiencing.

While the department notes the concerns of local residents regarding the use of the property, the department must avail of all accommodation offers made to it in order to meet the basic needs of applicants, to comply with Ireland’s obligations under national and EU law and to prevent homelessness in as far as it can.

He said that over 15,000 people had arrived in Ireland seeking accommodation last year while their applications for international protection were being processed, with a further 3,300 arriving to date in 2023.

He said the department has also had to re-accommodate over 2,500 people who had been living in hotels and other short-term emergency locations whose contracts with the State had expired this year.

It is not yet clear whether or not the department and Coldec will be complying with the new enforcement order.

Last month, Mr O’Gorman expressed his displeasure at the felling of a number of trees on the grounds of Ryevale House by Coldec, the developer insisting at the time that the felling had been actioned for health and safety reasons.

The minister said at the time that the felling had not been sanctioned by his department.