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22 Oct 2025
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22 Oct 2025
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St Catherine’s Nursing Home in Freshford
Cathaoirleach of Kilkenny County Council Michael McCarthy has welcomed the decision of the Department of Integration not to proceed with the proposed IPAS accommodation in the Ballyragget and Freshford areas, describing both settings as 'totally inappropriate'.
The matter was raised at Monday's meeting of Kilkenny County Council by independent, Cllr Eugene McGuinness.
The Heather Court Hotel in Ballyragget, St Catherine’s Nursing Home in Freshford and the St Patrick’s Centre site on the Kells Road, Kilkenny City, are all no longer being considered as viable locations following confirmation from Kilkenny County Council in response to a query raised by Cllr Eugene McGuinness.
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Reacting to the termination of plans at Heather Court Hotel in Ballyragget, Cllr McCarthy said: "This building is on the Main Street and would have been totally inappropriate for accommodating IPAS," he claimed.
Similarly, the Cathaoirleach also welcomed the rejection of St Catherine’s Nursing Home as an IPAS accommodation centre.
"With a lack of infrastructure and additional resources, the proposal was always going to be problematic," Cllr McCarthy argued.
The Department’s decision not to proceed with an application to locate an IPAS centre at St Patrick’s was also welcomed with a degree of caution by councillors.
Applications were received by the Department but a decision was made not to proceed.
Director of Services with Kilkenny County Council, Fiona Deegan updated councillors on the status of the local locations at April’s Plenary Meeting of the local authority.
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In doing so, Ms Deegan reminded members that the council has no role in ‘procuring accommodation’ for international protection applicants (IPAS).
FULL COVERAGE AND REACTION IN THIS WEEK'S KILKENNY PEOPLE
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