Residents near Thornton Hall have said they received “no public consultation” ahead of plans to bring asylum seekers to the area. 

Hundreds of asylum seekers are set to be accommodated within the next six weeks at the North Dublin site originally earmarked for a “super prison”. 

The Department of Integration said it is working with the Irish Prison Service and the Department of Justice to use a portion of the 160-acre site for emergency accommodation. 

Gráinne McFadden, who lives “right next door” to Thornton Hall said locals were not consulted about plans to bring in asylum seekers. 

“We haven't heard anything from anybody, no public consultation at all,” she said. 

“I just don’t feel safe for my three daughters, my three teenagers, [who] will be using the public bus service.” 

Area around Thornton Hall, north Dublin, where the Government has announced hundreds of asylum seekers will be accommodation. Image: Barry Whyte

According to the Department of Integration, the tents will be pitched in a part of the site that is already "serviced", including toilets and kitchen areas. 

She also noted while Thornton Hall is in a “beautiful rural area”, there are no service that would help asylum seekers living there. 

“I'd say it's a septic tank and some sheds,” she said. “It’s farmland, that’s what it is, farmland with an old house on it. 

“There are only services there for a family at the moment. 

“For the rest of us to bring services like that to our own homes, it would take six months or a year. 

“I don't know how the Government obviously can do it quicker than the rest of us.”

Asylum seekers at Thornton Hall

Thornton Hall was purchased by the State in 2004 for nearly €30 million but has remained unused for the past two decades. 

The decision to accommodate asylum seekers in the area comes as roughly 1,700 male international protection applicans remain homeless. 

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

Reporting by Barry Whyte.