Leitrim County Council's efforts to block the redevelopment of a former hotel in Dromahair into refugee accommodation has been described as 'handbrake turn' by a High Court Judge. Mr Justice Richard Humphreys made the comments as the Council failed to have works at the former Abbey Manor Hotel in the town stopped. Shut in 2009, the owners had reached an agreement with the Department of Integration for the use of the property for 12 months. Local residents held protests in the village last November saying existing services would be stretched to the limit if 155 asylum seekers were located in the town.
Mr Justice Humphreys said the council's correspondence with the developer, Dromaprop, took a rapid turn with the Council's rejection of a completion certificate. The judge branded the move as 'opaque, out of time and inconsistent with the failure to object in principle when the certificate was submitted. In his judgements yesterday, Mr Justice Humphreys refused the council’s request to prohibit the temporary housing of asylum seekers at the premises. He also rolled back the decision of the council in rejecting its building compliance certificate for works to convert the hotel for use as a refugee centre. The matter will come before the courts again later this year where the matter of costs will be decided.
