Former nursing home in Ballsbridge, Dublin to house up to 220 asylum seekers

St Mary’s Home will be used to accommodate up to 220 people and is expected to house families for up to a year.

The Victorian building near St Conleth’s College on Pembroke Park was built as a school in 1891 and was used as a nursing home until 2020.

Labour Party Dublin City Councillor Dermot Lacey said he and Labour leader Ivana Bacik had “a very good meeting” with local residents on Thursday night about how the facility was set to be used.

“There were around 70 or 80 people there and it was a very constructive meeting,” he said.

“People had questions mainly to do with the suitability of the building and mainly to do with fire safety. I don’t think anybody voiced outright opposition.

“Some people certainly weren’t enamoured by it but the vast majority were happy enough that it was going ahead.”

Mr Lacey said a Dublin 4 welcome group will be established to help new residents settle in, to which more than 20 people have already signed up.

“They have offered their services to engage with the new residents and to provide links to the local community, which is what we’ve done already in Rathmines and Ranelagh, so that was very constructive and positive,” he said.

Last month more than 200 international protection applicants were left without State accommodation due to a shortage of beds.

“The Department are currently providing over 26,100 people seeking international protection with State-sourced accommodation and support services, in addition to that, since February 2022, we are also providing accommodation to 74,000 people who have fled the war in Ukraine, resulting in over 100,000 people in State-provided or pledged accommodation in Ireland, and that number continues to increase,” a spokesperson for the Department of Integration said.

It follows the destruction of the vacant Shipwright pub, also known as Sally’s bar, in Ringsend, Dublin, over the weekend after speculation it was going to be used to house asylum seekers.

However, the Department of Integration has said there were no plans to use the building to accommodate asylum-seekers.

A statement from the Dublin Region Homeless Executive (DRHE) on Sunday said it had informed local politicians that the building was to be used for emergency accommodation for homeless families.

The fire follows a spate of attacks on premises earmarked to house asylum-seekers as the Government struggles to accommodate Ukrainian refugees, homeless people and asylum-seekers.

Last month, the Ross Lake Hotel in Co Galway was burnt out after it emerged it was to be used to house asylum seekers.