TOWN IN SHOCK AS THE GRAND HOTEL TO BECOME DIRECT PROVISION CENTRE
Only hotel in town will shut to visitors as 100 people set to be accommodated ‘Could be the biggest disaster to hit Wicklow in my lifetime’, says councillor
THE GRAND HOTEL is due to become a Direct Provision Centre within a matter of weeks, accommodating up to 100 people. The residents will come from a variety of countries, including Nigeria, Pakistan and the Congo.
The Grand Hotel is the only hotel in Wicklow and there are serious concerns that its closure to visitors will have a negative impact on tourism and tourism-related businesses.
Cllr John Snell said: ‘It could prove to be the biggest disaster to hit Wicklow town and the whole area in my lifetime.’
THE GRAND Hotel is set to become a direct provision centre in the next two weeks in a move which has sent shock-waves around Wicklow town and surrounding areas.
The Grand is the only hotel in the town and its closure to tourists and visitors will be considered a considerable blow to the town.
The Department of Justice has confirmed that around 100 people – made up of families and single people – will be accommodated in the hotel’s 33 bedrooms. The contract is for a fixed one-year term and residents will be from a number of different countries, including Nigeria, Pakistan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Cllr John Snell has condemned the Government move as potentially ‘the biggest disaster’ to happen to Wicklow in his lifetime.
‘This is a huge backward step for the town, especially when promoting Wicklow as the county town,’ said Cllr Snell. ‘This will completely undermine all the great work carried out by the Town Team. Both the Town Team and local Chamber of Commerce have said many times how Wicklow needs a second hotel if possible.
‘Now we have a situation where there won’t even be one. Now you will have an influx of different nationalities which will put extra pressure on local school resources. It could prove to be the biggest disaster to hit Wicklow town and the whole area in my lifetime’.
At the beginning of this year the Reception and Integration Agency published a notice in national newspapers seeking businesses that were in a position to offer accommodation on behalf of the State and the Grand Hotel was one of the businesses to respond.
Last year, the Firebreak Hospitality, owned by prolific hotel operator Adrian Shanagher, announced that the Grand Hotel would undergo a €300,000 to €400,000 investment and refurbishment programme to ‘revitalise’ the hotel. Cllr Snell claims that their actions have betrayed the Wicklow public.
‘The pretence was that they wanted to do the hotel up and they called for the support of the people of Wicklow, which I think they got. The change to a direct provision centre was sought out by the management of the hotel. It has nothing to do with Wicklow County Council.
‘So many people have such fond memories of the Grand Hotel – weddings, christenings and birthday parties. Now that is all gone’.
Cllr Gail Dunne has also slammed the decision.
‘People are so annoyed. I have been receiving hundreds of calls. This will be a devastating blow for the town. The Town Team have been doing great work recently and this completely goes against everything they are trying to achieve.
‘Work is taking place on the East Coast Greenway and we got some funding to reopen the old cliff walk – now this has hit us.
‘The fact no consultation took place is also a snub to the people of Wicklow,’ said Cllr Dunne.
In a statement, the Wicklow Syria Appeal also announced its opposition to the decision.
‘Wicklow Syria Appeal is shocked and disappointed at the decision to open yet another Direct Provision centre in Ireland. Ironically the centre is in Wicklow town, the town that spearheaded the community sponsorship model, integrating a family of refugees into their local community with great success.
‘Wicklow has shown how a community coming together can support a family of refugees to rebuild their lives within the community, making their own decisions and contributing to the area through volunteering, building friendships and shopping locally. The community sponsored family are focusing on learning English with a view to re-stabilising their furniture production business in Wicklow in future years”.
Mick Nolan, chairperson of Wicklow Syria Appeal, said: ‘We developed a community sponsorship model as a humane community driven alternative to direct provision. The institutionalised nature of direct provision and the restrictive living conditions has many detrimental effects on its residents, which the 2015 McMahon report highlighted.
‘It is a huge shock to all in Wicklow that a direct provision centre is being established, Wicklow Syria Appeal is vehemently opposed to the Direct Provision method’.
The organisation has also called on the local community to remember that asylum seekers have had ‘no choice in their fate’ of being placed in a direct provision centre in Wicklowtown.
‘Firstly, We do not know the situations from which they seek asylum or refuge and so should show them respect. I would be totally against direct provision whether it was in the Grand Hotel or on top of Lugnaquilla,’ added Mr Nolan.
‘It’s an abhorrent way to treat people, but the fact it is going into the only hotel in Wicklow town makes it even worse. I am hugely disappointed in the Government and the Department of Justice. Only recently this year the Department expressed the view that community sponsorship was the way forward. A direct provision centre totally flies in the face of that’.
Cllr Snell has also condemned the direct provision model as ‘unworkable’.
‘It does not work and the whole template is a failed and flawed one. Using hotels, hostels and caravan parks has been a complete disaster. They have been described as “open prisons” and clearly aren’t the way forward. People staying there may have skills bout they can’t use them so they are basically penned up like birds in an aviary’.
No consultation with the people of Wicklow took place, but officials from the Reception and Integration Agency of the Department of Justice will be meeting with local councillors on Thursday. The meeting is private and is not open to the public.
Sinn Féin TD John Brady feels the Government should be trying to dismantle the direct provision system, instead of expanding the number of centres operating.
‘The system of Direct Provision is a basic denial of human rights. The system has been in place for 17 years. It was originally intended to accommodate asylum seekers for six months, but the reality is that many people have had to grow up in direct provision.
‘The opening of a new direct provision centre in Wicklow town will not serve the vulnerable people arriving in Ireland seeking International protection, nor will it serve the recently launched Wicklow tourism strategy. The only people it does serve are those private entities making millions out of this system and it needs to be scrapped,’ said Deputy Brady.