Cllrs pass motion calling for 500-bed hotel not be lost to tourism potential

The decision of the d Hotel Drogheda owners to close the hotel’s bedrooms to normal paying guests and use them instead for accommodation for international protection applicants will have a dramatic effect on tourism in the Boyne Valley, a Sinn Fein councillor told a meeting of Meath County Council this week.

Cllr Michael Gallagher asked the council to call on the Minister for Equality, Children, Disability, Integration and Youth to refrain from using the hotel as an accommodation centre for asylum seekers.

He said they had the town of Drogheda, “a potential city” with 14 bed spaces left available for tourists.

“It is going to have a serious effect. I am looking at the cost of this – the owners bought it for €11 million last year and now they are going to get twice the cost of what they paid plus they can leave the bar, the function room and the restaurant open. People who own hotels and other property across the country with any bit of financial cop-on would go for this deal. This kind of deal was going to close places down."

He instanced the town of Kingscourt where, he said, “you can’t even buy a lunch now because all the restaurants have closed down”. What had happened with the refugees was a “total disaster” and the accommodation scheme had not worked.

The situation had caused division “and I’m not talking about the far right”. Ordinary people were very concerned about what was happening in the whole asylum situation. The reason he was raising the issue was because Meath Co Council controlled a large proportion of Drogheda, Cllr Gallagher said.

Labour Cllr Elaine McGinty said she wanted to bring an update to the meeting. She said the Taoiseach had met with councillors in Drogheda on Monday. The hotel was a very big one and was very important to tourism. A lot of businesses around Meath depended on the hotel. If €25 million could be given to one operator on an investment of €11 million over two years why couldn’t other businesses around Drogheda get the same money, she asked.

This wasn’t a refugee issue, she said, it was a policy issue. "It was a case of having to do our best on accommodating refugees and asylum seekers but people also needed a plan and it needed leadership. There was an awful lot of property dereliction in the country that could be turned into accommodation for refugees instead of hotels.

“We need to put our shoulders to the wheel but we need the government to step forward to come up with a plan”. She said the latest from the talks in Drogheda was that the Taoiseach was not in a position to change the contract with the d Hotel.

Fine Gael Cllr Sharon Tolan proposed an amendment to Cllr Gallagher’s motion. Her amendment called on the Minister to refrain from using “100 per cent” of the d Hotel as an accommodation centre for asylum seekers. There was huge tourism potential in the whole area, it was the heart of the Boyne Valley, “the beating heart of the Boyne Valley”. The motion was seconded by Fianna Fail Cllr Aisling Dempsey.

A vote by show of hands was attempted but later changed to a roll call vote. The amended motion was passed by 20 votes to five, with five abstentions and 10 councillors absent.