Department making plans with local hotel over Ukraine response

The Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth has confirmed to the Westmeath Independent that it is “making arrangements” with the Prince of Wales Hotel in Athlone “as part of the Ukraine response”.

However, a spokesperson pointed out that they are “not in a position to comment on the detail of contractual matters (e.g. number of rooms, length of contract) due to the commercially sensitive nature” of the information.

The news come after a reader contacted the Westmeath Independent earlier this week, saying that his accommodation booking had been cancelled by the hotel at short notice leaving him under pressure to find an alternative for visitors coming just days later.

A check of the hotel's website shows that no rooms can be booked until May 1, 2023.

On a day when Minister Roderic O'Gorman admitted that from next week, the State could not guarantee accommodation for Ukrainian refugees and those seeking international protection arriving in Ireland because of a capacity issue, his department underlined that it is still “contracting temporary hotel accommodation across the country in order to accommodate people fleeing war in Ukraine” as the need arises.

“At present, the department has arrangements with nine providers with addresses in Athlone to accommodate Ukraine Beneficiaries of Temporary Protection (BOTPs). The contractual occupancy is a little under 650 people. The exact number occupying these premises can vary from day to day,” it added

Amid fears that refugees will end up on the streets, Taoiseach Micheál Martin stressed that the government will "do everything we possibly can to avoid and to prevent" that happening due to the accommodation shortage.

Speaking from Brussels, he said there will be a cabinet subcommittee meeting on the issue on Monday to assess accommodation capacity countrywide.

Earlier, Tánaiste Leo Varadkar said that Ireland is facing a refugee crisis unlike anything ever seen before, but turning people away is "not an option".

The Prince of Wales Hotel has been contacted for comment on several occasions since early last week, but thus far, no one has responded.