Hundreds protest at plans to house refugees at town hotel
Council says closure of facility to tourists will cost town €5m
The facilities are just not there for our own people, never mind refugees NAME SURNAME WHEN AND WHERE GHGHG
UP to 500 demonstrators protested in Drogheda yesterday against the conversion of the town’s only large hotel into an asylum seeker centre.
Up to 500 international protection applicants will be housed in the D hotel in the centre of the town, it emerged earlier this week.
Some residents and politicians are angry there was no consultation over the closure of the 113-bedroom hotel.
Former mayor of Drogheda Frank Godfrey said the loss of the hotel is a devastating blow for the town.
He said: “The D Hotel was one of the best things that happened to the town in recent years and was great for tourism. “Where are tourists going to go now? We are not opposed to refugees but 500 people coming at once is like an invasion. We’ve done our bit to help as there are up to 2,000 refugees and asylum seekers in the area and we just can’t take any more. “The facilities are just not there for our own people, never mind refugees. The Government is treating us with contempt by sending 500 asylum seekers to the town which I believe is the largest number sent to a single area at the one time. “It’s an investment that the town needs, not more asylum seekers. The town needs two hotels, not one, for the volume of tourists that come to see the World Heritage site at Newgrange and the other attractions in the Boyne Valley.
“Up to 300,000 visitors a year come to Newgrange. Where are they going to go?”
Drogheda Borough District Councillors estimated that the loss to the area will be close to €5million a year.
Members of the Irish Freedom party addressed the crowd, including it’s leader Hermann Kelly who said that the Government was involved in the “economic suicide” of Drogheda.
Local woman Kathleen Doyle said there aren’t the facilities in the town to take in more asylum seekers.
She added: “The local hospital can’t cope as it is. You can’t blame people coming here wanting a better life but it’s at the expense of local people.”
John Clarke from the Hillview area of the town said it is a “disgrace” that the town’s only large hotel is to close down.
He added: “This was imposed on us with any consultation. I believe that has been planned from the time the Taoisaech was in the town a few months ago.”
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said the D Hotel may remain in partial commercial use after March 5.