Over 3,000 Ukrainians living in Mayo

Gilligan predicts ‘very difficult’ summer if hotels return to tourists only

Oisín McGovern

WESTPORT/Belmullet Municipal District is accommodating the largest number of Ukrainian refugees in the county.
According to the latest figures, 1,203 Ukrainian refugees are being hosted in the area, more than a third of the 3,223 Ukrainians currently living in Mayo.
The Castlebar area is accommodating the second-highest number in the county, with 1,093 currently living in the area.
Four-hundred-and-sixty-three Ukrainian refugees are living Claremorris/Swinford, while 464 are living in the Ballina area.
Mayo County Council’s Director of Services for Housing Tom Gilligan has said it will be ‘very difficult’ to source alternative accommodation if hotels return to accommodating tourists only this summer.  
No hotel has informed Mayo County Council that it will not be renewing its contracts. However, it recently emerged that several hotels across the country have yet to extend their contracts to house refugees.
Approximately 3,223 Ukrainian refugees are now living in Mayo, 95.8 percent of which are living in hotels, B&Bs, self-catering accommodation, guesthouses or holiday villages.
Just 200 Ukrainians are living in pledged accommodation in Mayo.
This comes despite a recent Mayo County Council campaign asking people to make spare rooms and properties available for refugees.

‘Commercially sensitive’
A spokesperson for the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (DCEDIY) said that it could not comment on the number of Mayo hotels that had yet to renew their contracts for housing refugees, as the information was ‘commercially sensitive’.
“The Department is aware of some hotels nationwide whose ‘exclusive use’ contracts for IPAs [International Protection Applicants] will expire between now and the end of April 2023 resulting in a loss of bed spaces for international protection applicants. Discussions are ongoing with hotels to see how loss of beds can be mitigated.”

‘Disgraceful’
Elsewhere, Mayo TD Michael Ring claimed that he was aware of one hotel that is owed €180,000 for accommodating Ukrainian refugees.
Deputy Ring’s remarks were made in an Irish Examiner report, which found that some hotels were owed up to €400,000 from the DCEDIY amid an ‘extraordinary volume’ of payments.
“It’s disgraceful,” the Fine Gael TD said.
“What sort of message does that send out to hotels, and other providers, who the Government is trying to get to accommodate Ukrainians and asylum seekers?”