Leitrim County Council’s attempt to stop 155 applicants for international protection from being housed at a disused hotel was denied by the High Court, reports Breaking News.
Mr. Justice Richard Humphreys determined that the intended use of the Abbey Manor Hotel in Dromahair village, County Leitrim, “can go ahead” and was not illegal, notwithstanding the council’s allegations to the contrary.
According to him, the hotel’s owner, Dromaprop Limited, had the right to utilise a planning exemption to convert the hotel—which had closed during the 2009 financial crisis—into housing for “protected persons” as per a 12-month agreement with the Department of Integration, reports Breaking News.
He turned down the council’s request for an injunction that would have made it illegal for asylum seekers to be temporarily housed there.
Dromaprop’s certificate was deemed invalid by the council in January of last year, and it was not allowed to be recorded on the official registry, reports Breaking News.
The local government handled the compliance certificate application in a way that the court deemed to be “irrational, unreasonably, and unlawfully,” according to the firm’s complaint.
Dromaprop, represented by Niall Handy SC and Kevin Bell, under the direction of Shannon & O’Connor Solicitors, stated that the council was being pressured politically in the area about the intended use of the hotel when the invalidation occurred unanticipatedly, reports Breaking News.
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