Using hotel beds to accommodate asylum seekers is “decimating tourism” in Ireland, according to a restaurant owner in Killarney.

The Government is understood to have earmarked over 600 free beds previously used by Ukrainians to accommodate International Protection applicants.

The Government is also considering using Thornton Hall in north Dublin for large-scale tented accommodation as the total number of asylum seekers being accommodated by the State reached 30,256 this week.

On The Hard Shoulder today, Paul Treyvaud of Treyvauds Restaurant in Killarney said it is “absolute insanity” to use hotel space for such purposes.

“I’m not surprised by this Government at all, they’re clueless and have no idea how many problems they’ve created with their policies,” he said.

“It’s been decimating tourism for years.

“They said a few months ago they weren’t going to use any more hotels and it’s an absolute lie.”

The front entrance to Thornton Hall. Image: Barry Whyte/ Newstalk

Mr Treyvaud said the Government is the “biggest culprit” of “misinformation and disinformation” in Ireland.

“The absolute lies they spew out to the Irish people, it’s absolute insanity even to consider using more hotel rooms,” he said

“How much of an industry can you actually decimate and they’re about to do it more.

“They said they weren’t going to use any more hotels and they said once Ukrainians started going back home that they’d be releasing rooms back to the tourism industry – but they’re clearly not.”

Hotel space

Doras CEO John Lannon said the Government needs to provide “houses for everyone”.

“That includes people seeking asylum, people fleeing the war in Ukraine, and Irish homeless people,” he said.

“They all need to be treated with the same respect and human dignity.

“We need to bear in mind there are over 100 million people forcibly displaced around the world and we’re only getting a small trickle of them here to Ireland.”

Temporary Ukrainian accommodation in Swords, Dublin, 10/03/2022. Image: Alex Konon / Alamy Stock Photo

Mr Lannon said the Government should review its approach to accommodating refugees and asylum seekers.

“We need to handle it in a way that doesn’t affect businesses negatively and I will fully accept that,” he said.

“We’ve been calling for this for quite a while to see a coherent policy, a constructive approach.

“Not just for the provision of accommodation but also in community engagement to make sure the integration of refugees is successful.”

There was an average of 66 asylum seeker arrivals to Ireland every day last week.

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Main image: Tents pitched on Grand Canal earlier this week. Image: Sasko Lazarov / © RollingNews.ie