PLANS to repurpose a building in a County Clare town to accommodate international protection applicants have been abandoned.
The decision was confirmed to Deputy Michael McNamara by Minister of State for Integration Joe O’Brien, who said “there will be no international protection applicants arriving” in the town of Shannon, where there was an interest expressed by government in a unit in the Shannon Business Park for the purpose of accommodating applicants.
The Clare Independent TD received confirmation from government that the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration, and Youth, has released its interest in Unit 153 in Shannon Business Park for accommodation for International Protection Applicants.
The Department had previously, in June 2023, said it was seeking to refit the building for emergency accommodation.
It was reported last year that between 300 and 600 international protection applicants were to be accommodated in the State-owned property.
The Department previously had said the facility would not come into use until 2024 at the earliest, with work to be undertaken on making the former factory fit for use in accommodation purposes.
The move sparked protests locally, with residents and some elected representatives expressing grave concern about the plan and claiming a lack of any information exchange with the community.
