One of Ireland’s Largest Hotels Closes to Become Asylum Centre Just Months After Opening

The Holiday Inn at Dublin Airport, which is currently the fourth largest hotel in Ireland’s capital, has closed so it can host asylum seekers after only months of operation.

After less than seven months of active service, the Holiday Inn at Dublin Airport has closed its doors to the general public.

It is now understood that the 421-bedroom establishment — reportedly the fourth-largest hotel in the Irish capital of Dublin — is now to house asylum seekers being processed by the Irish government.

According to an article by The Irish Times, the hotel has claimed to have signed an “exclusive contract”, and is “no longer operating” as a result.

This is despite the four-star hotel having only been opened in July of last year, its opening having initially been delayed by the start of the Chinese Coronavirus pandemic.

Ireland’s government is understood by the publication to have lined up the establishment to hold people seeking asylum, with the country’s body responsible for housing such individuals — the International Protection Accommodation Service.

According to the government agency, 3,300 more asylum seekers have arrived in the small country of just under five million since October last year.

The body already has deals with six establishments in Ireland’s capital to house asylum seekers, with a recent tender estimated to be worth around €50 million being recently run by the state in the hunt for more accommodation.

Official Ireland has a well-established practice of turning private hotels into accommodation for asylum seekers, despite complaints from the general public.

One major flashpoint for the practice occurred in 2019, when thousands of people took to the streets in protest against the setting up of a so-called “Direct Provision” centre in the small town of Oughterard.

Asylum seekers had been set to take up residence in the Connemara Gateway Hotel, which was to be contracted out for use by the government’s asylum system, but public outrage led to a withdrawal of the plans.

However, other establishments — such as the iconic Central Hotel in Dublin — have been contracted out for housing asylum seekers, especially during periods of intense lockdown at the height of the pandemic.

Ireland is not the only country however using hotels to house migrants, with the UK spending millions of taxpayer funds on looking after arrivals, some of which would have landed on Britain’s shores after crossing the English Channel in small boats.

According to a report by Migration Watch, Britain is expected to pay well over half a billion pounds on housing and supporting asylum seekers, having already spent around £430 million the previous year.