Ukrainians already living at accommodation centre announced for Cork

From tomorrow, new legislation means that anyone fleeing the war in Ukraine who registers for temporary protection and is looking for State-provided accommodation in Ireland will be accommodated for a maximum of 90 days.

The former North Presentation Convent building on Gerald Griffin Street in Blackpool was identified as one of the designated centres to provide 90 days of accommodation to new arrivals from Ukraine, with the capacity for 107 people.

However, as the site has been used to house Ukrainian refugees since last year, it is unclear as to whether the residents will be moved out to make room for new arrivals.

The new legislation will not affect people from Ukraine who arrived in Ireland before this policy came into force and are already registered for temporary protection.

Five of six Designated Accommodation Centres were announced by the Department of Integration today, including the former convent on Gerald Griffin Street.

The other centres are: Ballyogan Road, Dublin City (capacity: 392), Stradbally, Co Laois (capacity: 950), Fernbank, Limerick City (capacity: 250), and Punchestown, Co Kildare (capacity: 378).

Standard social welfare payments will no longer be available to residents, who will instead be entitled to a reduced weekly allowance of €38.80 per adult and €29.80 per child in respect of daily expenses, though entitlement to Child Benefit is not affected by these changes.

Opposition TDs have criticised the government for “reannouncing an already opened accommodation centre”.

People Before Profit-Solidarity TD Mick Barry said: 

“There have already been Ukrainian refugees at this location for some months now. People fleeing war are welcome here. I will be seeking more information on these new arrangements but I'm hopeful they can be implemented in a way that works well both for the refugees and the local community.” 

The Department explained that the former convent was offered to the department as potential accommodation for Beneficiaries of Temporary Protection (BoTPs) fleeing the war in Ukraine in 2022.

“The property required significant works to be undertaken to allow it to be used for BoTP accommodation and these works have now been completed. The centre has provided temporary accommodation for BoTPs since December 2023.

“The accommodation will be designated as an accommodation centre upon implementation of the new Government 90 day accommodation policy – the contract is due to be in place until December 2024," they said.

Sinn Féin TD Thomas Gould said: “A year ago, the use of this building was announced. As far as I know, there are people living there now. This is a rehashed announcement from the Minister. They are trying to use these repeated announcements to distract from their very real failings in housing, healthcare and the sky high cost of living.

“By doing this, the government creates and fosters anxiety and frustration within local communities about how things are handled.”