A group of Ukrainian refugees living at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Dundalk were told just over 48 hours in advance that they would be transferred to alternative accommodation on Monday.
RTÉ News saw a letter telling a resident he would be transferred to accommodation in Limerick.
Those supporting the refugees say others have been told they are moving to Tralee and Killarney in Kerry.
They called for residents to be given more time to find alternative housing options in the area.
RTÉ News learns that most of the Ukrainian refugees in the hotel have been living there since March. The group consists of around 19 children who attend local schools.
Since the hotel’s Ukrainian residents were notified of the move on Friday night, Emily Woodcock, who has supported her, said two accommodation offers had already been made by people in the area willing to accommodate some of those affected.
“The main thing we need is time,” Ms Woodcock told RTÉ News, reports RTE.
Ms Woodcock called for the planned relocation of residents to be postponed so efforts to find alternative accommodation for local refugees can continue.
When around 200 Ukrainian refugees were resettled from the Ibis hotel in Dublin last month, around 90 were placed in accommodation guaranteed by the Irish Red Cross and Helping Irish Hosts.
At the time, Minister for Children, Equality, Inclusion, Disability and Youth Roderic O’Gorman said he believed around 50 people had been accommodated “locally”, adding that this is why “the use of pledged accommodation is so important”, reports RTE.
Both the Irish Red Cross and Helping Irish Hosts confirmed to RTÉ News that they were not aware of the planned move of residents from the Dundalk Hotel earlier today.
Irish Red Cross Secretary-General Liam O’Dwyer said they could start work on this process “if requested” early next week.
Angie Gough, CEO of Helping Irish Hosts has urged anyone looking to move into hosted accommodation to get in touch with us as soon as possible.
“We will do our best to accommodate them,” Ms Gough added, reports RTE.
The Department for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth warned on Friday that “procurement of additional accommodation will be very challenging for the period up to January 13, 2023”, reports RTE.
It said that the processing center for Ukrainian refugees in Citywest will be closed from December 24-27 and that all Ukrainians arriving during this time will “be accommodated temporarily at designated local authority sites”.
In a letter delivered to Ukrainian refugees living at Crowne Plaza in Dundalk on Friday evening, they were told that it was “not possible to facilitate requests for accommodation of a certain type or in a specific location except on specific medical or disability grounds as verified by the Health Service Executive”, reports RTE.
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