Residents coping well with social distancing at Courtown Hotel
ALTHOUGH there have been concerns nationally about the welfare of those living in direction provision or emergency accommodation centres across the country, residents at the Courtown Hotel Emergency Accommodation Centre appear to be coping well in the new reality of isolation and with newly implemented physical distancing and hygiene measures.
Nicola Morris of the Courtown Hotel confirmed that staff are receiving daily updates from the HSE and the Department of Justice, and they have been following very guideline to the letter to ensure safety.
‘It’s going very well and every resident has taken to it very well, as they have been supporting each other. Some residents were teachers before they came to Ireland, so have facilitated school and workbooks for the 22 children we have here.
‘I’ve no concerns going forward, we are covered here in terms of stock and supplies, and we have enough space in the dining room to practice social distancing,’ she said.
Lauren Brennan of Courtown Refugee Support said that it has been tough limiting social contact with people in the hotel, but they are managing to keep in good spirits.
‘At the moment, we have had to stop most of our support in terms of the activities and meetings with City of Sanctuary and other groups we had brought in, but we are still doing our best even though we cannot visit. We have a group chat on WhatsApp with all of us, such as Tiffy Allen of Places of Sanctuary Ireland and John Kelly from the community development group. We message the guys in the hotel, we are sending jokes and memes to keep the spirits up but that’s about the extent of the support we can give.
‘ The residents have told us though that the hotel staff and everyone has been fantastic which is good to see, as at other centres for direct provision it is a different scenario. But in Courtown everybody knows exactly what’s happening, as the staff explain to the residents say who don’t speak English what is going on and what needs to happen to keep safe. We really can’t fault them, in contrast to other places they have gone above and beyond, and we’re grateful as it’s keeping everybody sane’.
With some reports of cases of Covid-19 among asylum seekers in Ireland and overcrowding issues in centres, the latest instruction from government is that direct provision and emergency accommodation centres must generate dedicated self-isolation rooms in response to any suspected cases of the virus.
Despite calls by refugee support groups for the most vulnerable residents to be moved out of centres, the department has not committed to relocating those people for the duration of the pandemic.
A spokesperson for the Courtown Hotel confirmed that there are four isolation rooms in place although there has not bee a need to use them yet, and that new a guideline of no more than two people to a room was already being applied to the centre, as only families live more than two to a room.