Renewal of D Hotel IPAS contract leaves Drogheda 'very short of hotel space'
Independent councillor Paddy McQuillan said the town had been left in limbo
The renewal of the D Hotel's IPAS contract leaves Drogheda "very short of hotel space and hotel rooms" according to councillor Paddy McQuillan.
The contract has reportedly been renewed for a further 12 months and has been an accommodation centre for asylum seekers since March 2024.
Cllr McQuillan raised the issue prior to the contract's renewal at the March meeting of Louth County Council.
He questioned if the local authority had contacted the Department of Justice on the matter and said the town had been left in "limbo".
"We seem to be in limbo, no one seems to know what’s going on with it and I haven’t really gotten a proper response from the department.
Nobody knows whether the contract is going to be renewed with the hotel. I can’t get a response from the department, none that I can make any sense of," he said.
Cllr McQuillan said the absence of the hotel had impacted on the town's tourism strategy and said it leaves Drogheda "very short of hotel space".
"The festivals we have is great and people come in for the day and they leave, but we’re still very, very short of hotel space and hotel rooms," he said.
Louth County Council confirmed it had no prior engagement with the Department regarding the hotel's contract.
Fianna Fáil Senator for Louth, Alison Comyn said she was disappointed that the contract has been renewed.
"Having engaged extensively with the Department of Justice over recent months regarding the proposed renewal of the contract for the use of the D Hotel in Drogheda as an IPAS reception centre, I am deeply disappointed that the Department has decided to proceed with a renewal of the contract for use as an IPAS reception and accommodation facility.
"This is not the outcome I wanted for Drogheda," she said.
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