Following a one-month respite, the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration, and Youth is relocating up to 150 Ukrainian men, women, and children from their housing in Carlow, reports Breaking News.
Following site inspections by an independent inspections company, the Department notified the inhabitants of a former restaurant called Toughers, located some kilometres outside of Carlow town, that they were had to vacate the property due to fire and safety issues.
When Russia started invading Ukraine in 2022, the building was transformed to house Ukrainian applicants for international protection, reports Breaking News.
The group had been due to move in the week leading up to Christmas but were given an additional month up until the end of this month following discussions by chief executive of Carlow County Council Coilín O’Reilly, the Department and residents.
Mr O’Reilly subsequently wrote to all councillors in Carlow informing them that the current accommodation contract had been extended until January 31st, this year, reports Breaking News.
However, the residents have been protesting both inside and outside council buildings over the pending move they are opposed to, as many have secured jobs in Carlow and surrounding areas along with their children attending schools and South East Technological University located in the town.
Numerous families are being relocated across the nation, including to Dublin, Limerick, Wexford, Tipperary, and Kilkenny, reports Breaking News.
According to a Department representative, the residents will hear from their relocations team within the next two weeks on a “new moving date and the state contracted accommodation that will be provided to those who still need it at the end of January.”
“Unfortunately due to the challenges we are facing in Ireland, as a result of the huge numbers of people who have come here seeking accommodation, we cannot respond to requests for accommodation of a certain type or location,” the spokesperson added, reports Breaking News.
Among the families who have received Department correspondence informing them that they are being transferred to a Bed and Breakfast in Carlow are Olah Maxkamov, 35, who is six months pregnant, and her husband Temur, 32, along with their five-year-old son, her 90-year-old grandmother, her mother-in-law, and their pet dog, which they brought from Kyiv when they fled Ukraine in August 2022, reports Breaking News.
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