Approaches to local hoteliers to accommodate refugees
Local accommodation providers have been approached by agencies working to provide shelter for those displaced from Ukraine, including The Firgrove Hotel in Mitchelstown and Corbett Court in Kilworth.
Declan Corbett, proprietor of Corbett Court, said that not only would he be welcoming those in need, but that employment would be on offer for those who take it up too. With two large operations, at full capacity Corbett Court need 100 employees between both restaurants (Kilworth and Ballyhea).
“We’ve gotten enquiries and we certainly will be facilitating as many as we can. We’ll also like to offer well-paid employment too if they’re happy to work with us. Between our operations in Ballyhea and in Kilworth, we’d like to employ four people to work in Ballyhea, and another five in Kilworth.”
Pat Tangney in The Firgrove Hotel, Mitchelstown says that they are ‘very interested’, but with a small operation of 14 rooms that it isn’t currently possible.
“We’re very interested but we don’t have that many rooms. If we had 40 or 50 rooms it would be different, but some of the rooms we have are committed to other corporations for different dates. The difficulty is in the longterm aspect for an operation like ours.”
CENTRAL LOCATION
One individual who spoke with The Avondhu pointed to The Grand Hotel in Fermoy as an ideal location to accommodate those fleeing conflict in Ukraine.
Since its closure in 2019, accommodation here has not reopened to the public despite multiple calls being made. The proprietor of the hotel was unable to be contacted at the time of going to print.
Meanwhile, Jenny Green of Ballyvolane House outside Castlelyons said that they had not been contacted regarding providing accommodation to those displaced by the war in Ukraine.
She noted that Ballyvolane House would ‘love’ to help, however, do not have adequate accommodation to do so, with just 6 bedrooms which are already heavily booked. In lieu of providing accommodation, Ballyvolane House has organised a fundraiser in collaboration with the House’s gin and spirits company, Bertha’s Revenge.
“We don’t have the extra accommodation to offer but I wish we could help. We’re doing a fundraiser instead which will go directly to the Irish Red Cross and their work in Ukraine,” Jenny said.
The fundraiser will be available through the Ballyvolane House website and will see those who donate to the Irish Red Cross entered into an online raffle for a variety of prizes donated by Ballyvolane House and Bertha’s Revenge, including gift vouchers, a two night stay at Ballyvolane House and gift boxes.
According to Tánaiste Leo Varadkar, up to 40,000 refugees from Ukraine could be in Ireland by the end of April, increasing the population by 1%. According to Minister Roderic O’Gorman, 20,000 pledges of accommodation support have been made through the Irish Red Cross.
It is understood that a meeting was held last Wednesday afternoon by Cork County Council and the elected members in order to establish the availability of accommodation throughout the county. On Tuesday afternoon, Minister O’Gorman said that almost 500 properties had been identified by local authorities to be potentially repurposed to house those displaced.