UPDATE: Government confirms former Offaly convent will accommodate Ukraine refugees
THE former Convent of Mercy in Kilcormac will be used to accommodate Ukrainians arriving in Ireland, the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth confirmed on Thursday
“At present, it is not possible to provide details regarding how many persons fleeing the conflict in Ukraine will be allocated to The Convent, Kilcormac,” said a spokesperson.
The allocation to Kilcormac will depend on the number of people arriving into the country on a daily basis, the spokesperson added and temporary accommodation is being contracted by the department “as the need arises”.
“The war in Ukraine has caused a humanitarian crisis and the Government is committed to welcoming people fleeing war in Ukraine and seeking protection in Ireland. Accommodation is initially being made available by the Ukrainian Crisis Temporary Accommodation Team (UCTAT) to those arrivals from Ukraine who require it.
“To date around 54,730 of those fleeing the conflict in Ukraine who have arrived in Ireland have been referred to the Ukrainian Crisis Temporary Accommodation Team (UCTAT) for accommodation.”
The statement from the department was in response to queries from the Tullamore Tribune after the revelation that a bicycle training centre will be moving from the convent to Portlaoise.
Local public representative, Cllr John Leahy, had previously replied to questions about the building's use as a refugee centre instead of a previous proposal which would have seen it become home to an addiction rehabilitation centre.
That plan fell when An Bord Pleanala refused to grant permission to the developer, Serenity Home Ltd.
In August 2021 Offaly County Council had given the go-ahead for a 13-bedroom facility with counselling rooms and other ancillary accommodation.
That decision was appealed by a group called Concerned Residents of Kilcormac and in May last year An Bord Pleanala overturned the planning consent, saying the proposed rehabilitation centre would have a serious and detrimental impact on the interior of the convent, which is a protected structure.
For more than a year the building has been home to a bicycle maintenance and manufacturing training centre run by the Bicycle Engineering Academy but it will be transferring its activities to another centre it has in Portlaoise.
Cllr Leahy said on Wednesday evening that he had told the objectors to the rehabilitation unit that if they succeeded in blocking it, the convent might instead be used to house asylum seekers or refugees.
“I pleaded with these people on a couple of occasions and I said the alternative for a convent sitting in the middle of a town was going to maybe bring about an asylum seeker or refugee centre. Either that or it's going to fall to the ground,” he said.
“I personally put a lot of time into trying to get the bicycle hub into it, in which we succeeded.”
The Independent councillor said he could understand why private businesspeople would look at other options when “there's a market there at the moment”.
He said he believed an opportunity had been wasted because the rehabilitation centre would have created between eight and 12 jobs locally.
“I can't see that being the case now and unfortunately the convent, be it right or wrong, is going to be forever and a day now, until it's sold on again, some sort of Ukrainian centre or refugee centre or homeless shelter.”
The councillor added that when he told the Concerned Residents of Kilcormac that the convent could be turned into a refugee centre they told him “they would fight that as well”.
He said: “What I'm doing is I'm calling them out now and asking them to do what they said they would do at the start and for them to take the campaign on. I personally am not because at the end of the day, number one it's a private enterprise, and another thing is I'm not going to publicly come out and stop people coming from a war stricken country coming into this country.
“If they're so concerned about Kilcormac they need to come to the fore now because they're the ones that started this. I as a public representative would not stand for a protest.”
According to the latest figures from the Central Statistics Office, 553 people arrived from Ukraine to Offaly by November 6 last.
The figure is based on PPSN applications and comprises 386 in the Tullamore Electoral Area, 105 in the Birr Electoral Area and 62 in the Edenderry Electoral Area.
Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24 last year, causing the biggest refugee crisis in Europe since World War II.
In March about 130 people from Ukraine were accommodated in the Central Hotel in Tullamore, plus some 33 more in The Townhouse, High Street, and many others in various locations near the town.
By early April the Outdoor Education Centre in Birr was also being used with 35 people accommodated there in the first phase. They stayed for a number of weeks before being moved to other accommodation, a pattern that continued in Birr during 2022.