Birr Technology Centre owners forced to put “crisis management plan” in place

The owners of Birr Technology Centre have outlined the actions they had to take last weekend in the wake of what they have described as “misleading local and social media reports” that the centre was being considered as a possible location for the accommodation of Ukrainian refugees.

Some of the reports emerged as a result of a reply from the Department of Integration to a Parliamentary Question which was tabled by local Independent TD, Carol Nolan – on foot of which she issued a press release.

Denis Madden, the CEO of European Tech Hub, which manages Birr Technology Centre told the Offaly Independent this week that they had to go into “crisis management mode” on Saturday last in light of the “misleading reports circulating” and had to alert Gardai and step up security at the facility.

He added that commercial tenants have been “quite concerned” about their own safety and that of the building, and added that their concern is not about “possible Ukrainian refugees, but arsonists and protesters.”

The company also issued a hard-hitting statement on Saturday evening last clarifying that Birr Technology Centre is not being considered as a temporary accommodation centre for refugees.

“The Birr Technology Centre Building is an actively managed and thriving office complex with over twenty businesses and state organisations located at the property. There are long leases in place with tenants and there no plans for anything except office use in the building,” the statement read. The statement confirmed that the Enterprise Building, which is one of three buildings forming what is known as the Birr Technology Centre campus, is currently being evaluated as an interim facility for the accommodation of Ukrainian refugees, with the possibility of up to ten bedrooms being provided in a temporary change of use. The Enterprise Building is a separate custom-designed small business building adjoining the main Technology Centre and encompasses approximately 385 sq.m of space. It faces directly onto Brendan Street in Birr.

In their statement last weekend, European Tech Hub said that “as part of its wider strategy” it is investigating alternative uses for the smaller Enterprise Building which “includes continued standard office type use, or use as live-work studios” and that “as a stepping stone to live-work studios their interim use for emergency accommodation for Ukrainian refugees is being evaluated.”

The statement added that “no decision, or basis for decision” has been reached at this stage.”

Denis Madden reiterated this week that the offer of the Enterprise Building as a temporary facility for Ukrainian refugees was done “in an open and transparent manner” with the lodging of an application to Offaly County Council last month “to clarify the planning aspect of a change of use”.

He added that the application was “listed online” in public applications on the Offaly County Council website and that the local authority had also written to all Birr councillors in January informing them of the change of use application. A declaration that a change of use of the Enterprise Building would be “an exempted development” was received earlier this month, according to Mr Madden, who added that “no decision has been reached” on the suitability of the premises as a temporary refugee accommodation centre.

In her Parliamentary Question, Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Integration, Roderic O'Gorman to “clarify if the Technology Centre in Birr is being considered or has been accepted for use as an international protection accommodation site.”

The Minister's written response stated that his Department had “received an offer from the premises referred by the Deputy to accommodate Beneficiaries of Temporary Protection (BOTP)” and that the offer was “being evaluated to determine if it meets the Department's requirements.”

Deputy Nolan subsequently issued a press statement, headed “Birr Technology Centre offered to Department for Ukrainian accommodation purposes” on the basis of the information she had received.

This week, a statement from Deputy Nolan's office said: "The department provided Deputy Nolan with information the site had been offered. We based our initial PR on that." The statement added that it had emerged that the Department “misleadingly”, had not specified that it was “an adjoining premises that was offered not the Birr Technology Centre”.

Denis Madden said European Tech Hub now wished to meet Deputy Nolan on the matter.