Lease withdrawn for Mayo hotel proposed to accommodate international protection applicants

A proposal to accommodate 50 male international protection applicants in a hotel in Ballinrobe, Co. Mayo has been scrapped. 

Local county councillors Damien Ryan and Michael Burke have stated that a lease between the Department of Children, Equality, Disabilities, Integration and Youth and the owner of JJ Gannon’s hotel had been ‘withdrawn’.

Protesters assembled outside the hotel on Friday evening after Cllr Burke announced on social media that 50 men would be moving into the 12-bedroom hotel from Monday, January 8. 

The gathering, which numbered almost 100 people at its peak, was addressed by Cllr Burke, Cllr Ryan (Fianna Fáil) and Independent councillor Patsy O’Brien, as well as other locals.

A number of men and women who spoke to The Mayo News outlined various concerns about the proposal; including the presence of a nearby playschool, the safety of local people and the extra demand on local facilities. 

In a statement on Facebook today (Saturday), Cllr Burke said that the lease for ‘the current proposal’ had been withdrawn.

“I am delighted with this announcement and it’s a good result for all the people that turned out last night and has been in contact with me over the past 24 hours,” the Fine Gael councillor said. 

Cllr Ryan stated that the proposal had been reversed following ‘behind the scenes negotiations’ and thanked those who showed up to the protest outside the hotel on Friday evening ‘to give us a strong hand in these deliberations’.

The property, formerly owned by the Gannon family but now owned by Tom O’Connor for a considerable length of time, has been vacant since it closed in 2012.

Speaking to locals this afternoon, Cllr Burke said he had ‘100 percent confidence’ that the former proposal would not be going ahead. 

“I can stand firmly behind the conversation I’ve had with him this morning and other conversations I’ve had with other people in high political office,” said Cllr Burke on a video streamed live on Facebook.

Cllr Burke added that Mr O’Connor withdrew from the lease ‘off his own bat, not from any political pressures’. 

Mayo County Council had indicated to The Mayo News in September that ‘discussions’ were taking place to use the hotel to accommodate refugees from Ukraine.

A group of people waited at the front of the hotel throughout Friday night and Saturday morning.

An outdoor fire and a gazebo were set up while fuel and food were supplied to the protestors, who had organised a rota to keep someone constantly stationed at the hotel. 

Two men, who said they were there in a work capacity, were refused entry to the property when they arrived after 2am on Saturday morning. 

A constant garda presence was maintained around the hotel since the protests began on Friday evening.

The Department of Children, Disabilities, Equality, Integration and Youth has been contacted for a statement on the matter.