The website for ‘Clontra House Shankill Refugee Centre’, clontra.com, dismissed by one local councillor as being “fake”, claims “the owners of Clontra House on Quinn’s Road have made preliminary planning applications to develop the house and site into a refugee centre”, referring to the listed building which sits on 19 acres close to Shankill village.
Located at the end of Quinn’s Road, in Shankill, a residential area, it is bounded by cliffs on its eastern side and is about 10 miles from the city centre. The five-bedroom house dates back to 1862 and the estate also comprises a two-bedroom Victorian gate-lodge, a barn area and a 1970s-built, four-bedroom house called Cluin House.
In the past, and amid much controversy, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council voted against rezoning the grounds for residential use and the site was zoned ‘GB’ (general business), ’ where residential development is ‘open for consideration’ with conditions.
Regardless of the conspicuous nature of the website, reference made to an application exploring the building(s) use as an IPAS centre is accurate, since one was lodged with Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown Council on November 13.
The application, by Forgebell Limited, is for a ‘Section 5 decision’, to determine Clontra’s “total accommodation” for use as a potential IPAS centre.
“The requirement for a Section 5 Declaration arises because the estate is presently unoccupied,” the application reads, “and IPAS has expressed an interest in making use of its accommodation on a contract basis. Our client has made an application to accommodate people applying for International Protection.
“The estate (which pre-dates 1964) has offered its accommodation on various basis over many years to individuals, to groups, to the staff of building contractors working in Clontra Estate or on projects in the area, for events, etc (when the war in Ukraine began the estate also housed Ukrainian refugees),” it continues.
“All those leasing the accommodation have done so on the basis that it is all estate-based residential accommodation. The proposal to accommodate people applying for International Protection does not involve a change of tenure, as individuals would occupy the estate’s accommodation as a long term group lease managed under IPAS in line with all appropriate Legislative and regulatory requirements. This is much the same as a house or apartment share, only in this case it would be an estate-share.”
The estate is owned and operated as a single entity and is currently maintained and managed by a management company. A decision date has been set for December 10.
When contacted to enquire if the Shankill site is being considered, a spokesperson for the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, which is responsible for the provision of such accommodation, said the department “is not currently examining this property for accommodation for people seeking international protection”.
