‘Refugee’ site sale dropped after fire
Owners withdraw offer to house Ukrainians as TD slams arsonists
AN offer on a property that could have housed up to 90 Ukrainian refugees has been rescinded after an arson attack earlier this week.
Gardai confirmed that a technical exam will be carried out at the scene of an old convent in Lanesboro, Co Longford, where a fire took place on Tuesday.
In a statement, the Department of Integration confirmed that the property had been offered for use as Ukrainian refugee accommodation and had been undergoing renovation.
Joe Flaherty, Fianna Fail TD for Longford-westmeath, told the Irish Mirror the owners have now withdrawn their offer. He said that it had been offered for two years, adding: “It was at the owners’ instigation that the contract was terminated.
“I would be deeply troubled by the fire. I can appreciate that anything like this causes a certain amount of concern in a local community.
“I think What happened in Lanesboro has been, probably, fuelled by what’s happening in other parts of the country.
“Four hundred metres away from this location there is an old nursing home and 80 odd Ukrainians have been living there for more than six months now with no issue and [they have] accumulated relatively well into the local community.
“The understanding locally is that it wasn’t a local who burnt it, it was an outsider who burnt it.
“It could have been a tragedy, there are commercial businesses alongside it, there are residential houses on the other side. It could have been an absolute disaster.” Mr Flaherty said that the fire happened against a “backdrop” of very little communication from the Department of Integration about the property.
He said that he has asked for clarification on several sites across Longford linked to asylum or refugee accommodation and has not had a response.
He added: “I don’t think the fact that the building has gone on fire says that the people are racist or unreceptive to people fleeing war.”
Speaking to RTE, Justice Minister Helen Mcentee said gardai are doing “everything that they can” to ensure the safety of refugees and asylum seekers who have been placed in accommodation centres.