Vacant Garda stations could be used to house Ukrainians as the number of refugees continues to rise.
Earlier this week, a number of Ukrainians were held overnight at Dublin Airport due to what was described as a “severe shortage” of state accommodation.
From Monday, tents will be available in Gormanston Army Camp in County Meath and the Office of Public Works has now delayed auctions of 13 - mostly rural - Garda stations in order to assess them as potential accommodation.
A child’s play area at Gormanston Army Camp. Image: Department of Taoiseach.'No plans to limit numbers'
A recent poll suggested there was public support for a cap on the number of refugees; however, the Government has made clear that as many Ukrainians can come to Ireland as want to live here:
“Certainly, in relation to people coming from Ukraine we don’t have any plans to limit numbers,” Tánaiste Leo Varadkat told Newstalk.
“Bear in mind this is part of a European law, so it’s actually not in our authority in any case to limit the numbers that are coming from Ukraine.
“And bear in mind while we’re struggling with 40,000 people who have come from Ukraine, Poland has 2 million, the Czech Republic 50,000, [there are] huge numbers in other countries too.”
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began in February, some 41,000 Ukrainians have arrived in Ireland and more are expected as the war drags on.
Main image: A Garda Station. Image: Radharc Images / Alamy Stock Photo
