Tented accommodation for asylum seekers to be developed in Athlone

Tented accommodation is to be established at Lissywollen, Athlone, to help meet the urgent need for accommodation for international protection applicants, it has emerged.

The Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth is planning to establish what is being described as the 'Midlands Accommodation Centre' in Lissywollen, which could cater for up to 1,000 applicants.

It is being developed by Ministerial Order, which was published recently.

Asylum seekers have been accommodated at the direct provision centre on the Lissywollen site for 24 years, and hundreds who have progressed through the asylum seeker system have since made their homes in Athlone and become part of the community.

The new plan was first announced in July last, and full details have been revealed today.

It's expected construction will commence in the coming weeks, with the first group of approximately 100 people due after the site is prepared. Site preparation works, including drainage, levelling, and the provision of sanitary and shower facilities, and sewerage facilities, are required.

It is understood that the site will be occupied on a phased basis, with the “high-performance tents” designed to have the potential to accommodate up to 1,000 people.

Some 100-150 tents are expected to be established, to be later replaced by modular units.

The new centre is to be located within an eleven-acre portion of the existing accommodation centre site in Lissywollen.

The tented accommodation is viewed as a short-term solution, allowing the department time to source longer-term alternatives such as modular units. A feasibility study would need to be carried out should plans for modular accommodation progress.

Speaking in the Dáil on Tuesday of last week, the Minister for Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth Roderic O'Gorman named the Athlone site as one of five State-owned site licensed for emergency and tented accommodation and then for longer term solutions.

It is part of a Government strategy announced in March last designed to provide an overall bed capacity of up to 13,000 in State-owned reception and accommodation centres by 2028.

The direct provision centre in Lissywollen has been open since 2000 and a tented camp has already been in existence there, with little focus. The tents were erected in late 2022, and at its height 170 male asylum seekers were being accommodated in the tents, which opened in late September and were fully vacated by December 9, 2022.

The Department has been contacted for comment.