A FORMER direct provision centre in Foynes, County Limerick, which was previously closed after criticism over its standards, is being refurbished into a “beautiful” home for displaced Ukrainian refugees fleeing the war in their home country, according to the property’s owner.
Mount Trenchard, which ceased operating as a direct provision centre in 2020, was paid €304,500 last year by the Department of Integration, to accommodate refugees fleeing Ukraine after Russia’s illegal invasion of the country.
In total, €6million was paid by the Department to Mount Trenchard, as well as three hotel groups in Limerick last year.
The Maldron Hotel, Limerick, received €443,757.14; INUA General Partner (Radisson Blu Hotel and Spa, Limerick) received €4.7million, and Rivoir Ltd (Limerick Court Hotel/Limerick City Hotel) received €567,145, according to figures provided by the Department by way of a Freedom of Information Act request from The Irish Times.
Migrant support charity Doras previously highlighted poor conditions at Mount Trenchard, while it was privately managed by Baycaster Limited.
However, the former Irish stately home, which was later run by the Stella Maris religious order as an elite private boarding school, is one of a number of facilities on Shannonside which the government has chosen to provide emergency accommodation for people fleeing Russian aggression.
It’s understood there are about 50 war refugees residing at Mount Trenchard.
Its owner, Freida Keane Carmody, declined to confirm numbers of residents “because I am very cognisant of people’s vulnerability and it’s their home, it might be for today, this week, or it might be for a month”.
“They are in a country that they didn’t know about, they are away from their families and they are trying to make the most of where they are now, and I think Ireland is absolutely being as Ireland always is, just extending its friendship,” said Ms Keane Carmody.
Mount Trenchard, she explained, has undergone an incredible refurbishment but will need further works carried out to restore it to its former glory.
“It has a lovely history”, Ms Keane Carmody says, being the ancestral seat of the Anglo-Irish Spring-Rice family, as well as a former safe house for “gun-running” by IRA freedom fighters during the War of Independence.
It was also a former Irish army outpost and was frequented by the poet Aubrey de Vere, Catholic emancipator, liberator, and former MP for Clare, Daniel O’Connell, and, Irish President Eamon de Valera.
Ms Keane Carmody claims that a complaint raised with the Department of Integration last year by a Ukrainian resident relating to the location and conditions at Mount Trenchard had been fully resolved and harmony restored.
“Essentially it’s about giving people autonomy in their own lives, giving space, mutual respect, always in truth and trust, allowing them to lead and assisting them wherever possible to navigate this bizarre journey,” she opined.
