Ukrainian refugees are being accommodated in a former direct provision centre, which was shut down due to criticism over standards.
Mount Trenchard in Foynes, Co Limerick, stopped operating as a direct provision centre in February 2020 after a contract was not renewed.
The centre was criticised in a report by migrant support charity Doras for having poor facilities, being overcrowded and due to isolation at the centre being psychologically damaging to residents, who likened the facility to “an open prison”. At the time, conditions in Mount Trenchard were regarded as among the worst in the wider system.
However, officials again turned to the former convent school to be used as an accommodation centre in the weeks after Russia invaded Ukraine last year. Its new owner said the property has been refurbished.
The Government has been struggling to find accommodation for the tens of thousands of Ukrainian refugees and asylum seekers from other countries who have fled to Ireland.
A community worker supporting those now living in Mount Trenchard estimated that around 50 Ukrainians were being accommodated at the centre.
The Department of Integration said it received two complaints from Ukrainian residents in Mount Trenchard in the first half of last year, one about the location and one about the conditions, according to a summary released under the Freedom of Information Act.
Land registry records show Frieda Keane Carmody, from Ballycuggaran, Co Clare, is the owner of the property. Department records show it paid at least €300,000 last year to accommodate refugees in the centre.
Ms Keane Carmody disputed the accuracy of the figure when contacted by The Irish Times, but refused to put forward an alternative figure.
Before closing in 2020, Mount Trenchard was run by Baycaster Ltd, a company which ran several direct provision centres. The company’s directors are Alan Hyde (60), of Mount Oval, Co Cork, who owns half of the firm, and Tadhg Murphy (32), of Innishannon, Co Cork.
Mr Hyde and Mr Murphy are also directors of two other companies, Bideau Limited and Barlow Properties Limited, which are currently involved in providing accommodation for asylum seekers. Court records show Ms Keane Carmody is involved in a legal dispute with Baycaster Ltd and Mr Hyde.
Baycaster Ltd did not respond to requests for comment on the legal case, or criticism of previous standards in Mount Trenchard.
In a lengthy statement, Ms Keane Carmody said the “refurbished” Mount Trenchard facility had been pledged to house Ukrainian families fleeing the war.
“We have accepted some monies from the Government which has contributed towards the running costs and upgrade work of a [70,000 sq ft] building and extensive gardens,” she said.
The funding was put towards the provision of medical services, transport, insurance costs, security, as well as a “physic garden” for residents.
“With the help of local community and volunteers we have also provided extra English lessons, music lessons, art classes, yoga classes, sport and tennis camps on the grounds, sailing camp, cooking classes, a Ukrainian Christmas pantomime attended by local community, to mention but a few of what makes life at Mount Trenchard good,” she said.
“The same cohort of families who got off a bus on a winter’s night in March 2022 are still those beautiful people who now live and work locally and are based at Mount Trenchard.”
Land registry records show Mount Trenchard was owned by Ms Keane Carmody and her husband, Paschal Carmody, but in around 2004 it was transferred solely to her name. Mr Carmody, from Killaloe, Co Clare, was struck off the medical register in 2004 after having been found guilty of professional misconduct by a Medical Council fitness to practise committee.
