Consortium interested in buying hotel as residents given notice to leave

Local Cllr Enda McGloin spoke to the Leitrim Observer about the government's shock decision to move 170 residents from a hotel in Leitrim saying that the “up-to-date situation is that I've written directly, as have Leitrim County Council officials, to the department asking for an extension of a couple of weeks.”
He continued, “The initial indication coming back hasn't been majorly positive. We thought that, to coincide with the end of the primary school year and maybe if some of the children were doing exams in secondary school, that they could be given a week or two after school finishes to get themselves organised to move.”
Cllr McGloin said that there has been no response to their communication as of yet.
“I understand that there can be complications with regards to extending a contract by a number of weeks and that legally, it can be challenging. I don't know whether that's possible or not,” he said.
He continued that the “natural end of the contract was the end of May so extending it by another month might not be something the Department or the hotel operator can do.”
Cllr McGloin said that there are a number of rumours relating to the situation but his understanding was that “under the government's protection scheme where private homes and houses could be supplied through the local authority; that would be the best case scenario.
“That negotiation is ongoing and I feel that they are best placed to buy it. That aside, there is always the possibility that a third party will come in and buy the hotel but I believe that would be a very long and arduous process and would be very challenging legally, given that the consortium has been operating there since the start.”
Cllr McGloin said the view he held was that “people need to understand there were no negotiations between the department and a third party on behalf of the hotel to further extend contracts to either Ukrainians or International Protection applicants; that is not on the agenda.
“I'm very supportive of a scenario where a local family consortium would purchase the hotel with huge support from the general community and we would see a situation where they could provide a business model going forward to sustain the hotel on a tourism level and also perhaps for some private accommodation for Ukrainians fleeing the war. That would be the best solution,” he said.
Cllr McGloin said he was doing everything in his power to support that proposal “in my capacity as a local representative but there's still a long way to go yet and therefore, we just have to sit this out and see what happens.
“Any rumours that suggest that there are deals done by either the current party, an outside party, the current receiver/fund owners; that there is some deal done with the department is completely and utterly as far out as a lighthouse.”
He added that speculation, in his view, “creates a very dangerous issue here and people should sit tight and hope that over the course of time, a local bidder will be successful and the community would be hugely supportive of that move.
“It's unfortunate in the meantime that the Ukrainian residents who have been here for the past two years could not stay on for a period of time.”
He said he understood the department's view, saying they have a number of premises around the country that are not currently full and they need to consolidate their whole operation. "It's like someone having ten houses and they are all half-full where as you are better off having five of them full.
“The demand from the Ukrainian community is reducing and less people are coming in and there are many people going back so they are consolidating that.”
He said that in order to be “humane about this and fair, a reasonable timeframe should be put forward and it's not unreasonable to ask for an extra four to five weeks and I think most fair-minded people would accept that.”
He stated, “People are working here and their kids are in the schools and many in Drumkeeran and their departure could result in the possible loss of a teacher.
“At the same time, this is a temporary situation and if the war ended in the morning, most people would go back home. There will be people who will get jobs and want to stay here and their families might settle and I'm sure there will be a process whereby they can eventually get residency here and claim citizenship in years to come,” he concluded.