178 ASYLUM SEEKERS TO BE HOUSED IN BUILDING INTENDED FOR STUDENT ACCOMMODATION

It is being reported that at least 178 asylum seekers are to be housed at Milligan Court in Sligo despite the fact that the building was originally earmarked for student accommodation.

Ocean FM are also reporting that the move comes on the heels of the “major controversy that arose last year after the owners of both Milligan Court and Benbulben Court stopped letting the accommodation to students.”

At the time the situation was described by local TD Marc MacSharry as “totally counterproductive and wrong.” The TD had said that such a move “displaces” people living in Ireland.

This decision was subsequently reversed following Government intervention.

It is understood the loss of both properties from the student accommodation sector has left approximately 500 students desperately in need of living spaces.

Speaking Today Deputy MacSharry has said the move at Milligan Court Milligan Court “should be catalyst” for a General Election.

He also told Ocean FM that the real cause of the issue was the lack of any strategic plan on the asylum accommodation issue coinciding with the state offering “very lucrative contracts” for asylum accommodation providers.

Similar issues were raised previously by Independent TD Carol Nolan, who also sits as a member of the Oireachtas Committee on Education, Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science.

In 2022 the TD highlighted how she had been informed that there were 19 providers of student accommodation offering housing to international protection applicants covering 30 sites.

It is not yet known if Government will intervene to reverse or prevent the change of use at Milligan Court in Sligo as it did last year.