A group representing businesses and residents around Dublin’s Mount Street has threatened to take legal action if an application to develop an accommodation centre for asylum seekers in the area proceeds.
In an email sent to local TDs and councillors on Sunday, members of the Mount Street community network, which was established in March 2024, said they would “resist” the application to turn the former headquarters of the Irish League of Credit Unions (ILCU) into housing for international protection applicants, and would use “legal action” if necessary.
“We have been living with tents and metal barriers in our neighbourhood for over 18 months,” said the email, seen by The Irish Times. “Now an application is put forward to house 700 people in addition to having the International Protection Office (IPO) on the same street.
“We have played our part in this crisis of the Government’s own making, we will no longer allow our area to bear the burden of this mismanagement.”
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A firm called Lower Mount Street Accommodation Services Limited has reportedly applied for permission to convert the ILCU office block into International Protection Accommodation Services (IPAS) housing, according to a Business Post report.
The former headquarters at 33-41 Lower Mount Street was put up for sale, with potential for refurbishment or redevelopment, in June 2023 with a guiding price of €9.5 million.
The Lower Mount Street Accommodation Services limited company was established in August 2024, according to company filings.
A Department of Integration spokeswoman confirmed it had received an offer for accommodation at the ILCU site but that no decision had been made “as it is in the early stages”.
“The department will be carrying out a detailed appraisal of the offer in due course and doesn’t have any further information to share at this stage,” she said.
In May 2024, the tents of more than 200 asylum seekers were dismantled and removed from Mount Street as part of a multi-agency operation to clear the area of IPAs who had set up camp while awaiting a decision on their asylum claim.
The International Protection Office, where asylum claims are made and processed, is located on Mount Street Lower. Barricades were erected where tents previously stood and nearly ten months on, the steel fencing remains in place.
Ruth Hamilton, a local restaurant owner and member of the Mount Street network that contacted TDs and councillors on Sunday, said the community had “reached the end of its tether”.
Residents and business owners learned of the proposal to redevelop the ILCU site “like everyone else, through reading the paper”, said Ms Hamilton.
“We’ve done everything as a community and businesses in the area to reach out for correspondence and there’s been no answers from them [Government representatives].”
“What we want to find is whether this building is suitable to accommodate over 700 people and are services available for that volume of people? What are the wraparound services?”
Asked whether using a city centre premises to house asylum seekers made more sense than housing people in rural areas given the amenities available in a large city, Ms Hamilton said the community deserved better engagement from Government and the International Protection Office.
“This has been ongoing for over two years with a total lack of communication. We feel like we’re forgotten about and that we have no other option but to take legal action. We don’t want to do that, but it may be the only thing to do because we’ve been backed into a corner.”
Business for her own restaurant has also been “horrific” since the fencing was erected, she added.
The Department of Integration spokeswoman said community engagement usually takes place at a later stage when a property is approved for use given “many offers do not progress through the application process”.
The IPAS community engagement team are currently responding to local queries about this property, she added.
