A former hotel in County Leitrim has got the 'green light' to house 155 international protection applicants.

The High Court has rejected a bid by Leitrim County Council to block the plan - and said work can ‘go ahead’ at the former Abbey Manor Hotel in Dromahair village.

A group of local residents held protests in the village last November over concerns that asylum seekers were to be accommodated there.

Leitrim hotel

Local Labour Party candidate Bernie Linnane hopes the community can come together to welcome the new arrivals.

“I was involved in the campaign to try and save the hotel from dereliction,” she told Newstalk.

“I started it with another local resident Brendan Watters way back in 2015.

“I’m delighted now to see the work that has been done on it and I would hate to see it fall into dereliction again and be shuttered because people are not allowed to move into it.

“It will be wonderful to see the lights on again and the heat on and people living in there.

“It will be wonderful to see a community rally around and make people welcome.”

Main image: The Abbey Manor Hotel in Leitrim. Image: Radharc Images / Alamy Stock Photo