Tullamore B&B contracted for use as asylum seeker centre

A Tullamore B&B has been contracted for use in accommodating up to 35 international protection applicants, it's been confirmed this week.

In a statement which issued to media on Wednesday morning, Independent TD Carol Nolan said Lynch's Townhouse, on Arden Road, Tullamore, had been contracted for the new use after previously housing people who were fleeing the war in Ukraine.

A spokesperson for the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth told the Offaly Independent that the Tullamore facility would accommodate families seeking international protection.

"The centre will provide accommodation to up to 35 people, and they will move into the centre in the coming weeks," said the Department.

It added that it had signed a one-year contract "with a service provider who will provide the accommodation services at the centre."

Deputy Nolan said she believed the conversion of local amenities and buildings would continue.

She said she expected sites like Lynch's Townhouse to be contracted "at an even faster pace in 2025, given the expected arrival of 15,000 to 20,000 international protection applicants, based on the Government’s own predictions".

Speaking generally, the Offaly TD said: “It is now clear that although we are often told properties of this type will only be used temporarily, the reality is that for all intents and purposes they are permanently removed from use as anything other than an IPAS (International Protection Accommodation Service) accommodation centre.”