Accommodation centre for asylum seekers at a disused Irish hotel abandoned

It has been confirmed by Ireland's Department of Justice that a plan to provide an accommodation centre for asylum seekers at a disused hotel in Rooskey, Co Leitrim, has been abandoned. Since it was announced that it was to become a reception centre for asylum seekers, the Shannon Key West Hotel has been damaged in two arson attacks over the last three months. The department has said that the decision not to proceed with the project was due to difficulties with the lease agreement between the owners of the hotel, and the operator renting it.

There had been criticism about the lack of information, clarity and consultation with local people about the proposed site.  Local Fianna Fáil TD Eugene Murphy said that there had been a "veil of secrecy" around the plan to house people in Rooskey. The lack of consultation by the Government over plans to house asylum seekers in the hotel was seen by many to have backfired. Causing a failure to achieve local consensus about the scheme. There had also been growing resentment in the town about  interference by what has been described as "outside groups" from the "extreme left and extreme right" which had fuelled problems in regard to the proposed centre.