'Less pressure on the system' due to drop-off in asylum applications since start of year
This drop has eased pressure in the accommodation system, according to groups working the sector, resulting in less demand for beds and making it more likely for the government to not progress plans for accommodation centres in some instances.
This week has seen confirmation that some prominent locations will not be used for International Protection Accommodation Services (Ipas).
The
former Crown Paints site in Coolock
has been ruled out – almost a year after protests turned into violence amid opposition to the plans – and a
smaller site in The Liberties
was also rejected.
From January to April this year – as per
data published by the International Protection Office
– there has been a 43% drop in applications for Ireland's asylum system here compared to the same timeframe for last year.
The total number of applications for international protection up to April for this year was 4,096 – a significant fall compared to the 7,187 applications for the same period last year.
Advertisement
A statement by the Department of Justice – which recently took over responsibility for Ireland's asylum system – explained that among its considerations when deciding on the Coolock site was the 'current level of need in the sector'. It said it also gives consideration to the location, access to services and welfare of residents.
John Lannon, chief executive of Limerick-based humanitarian organisation Doras, which works with refugees and asylum seekers, told The Journal that he believes the government has become 'pragmatic' about centres in light of the reduced pressure.
'The numbers of people applying for international protection have gone down, which is obviously resulting in a bit less pressure on the system,' he said.
Lannon also pointed to a shift from Ukrainian to Ipas accommodation by some private sector providers as also freeing up space for asylum seekers, thereby lessening the need for new accommodation centres.
'And if and where they're successful then that helps to ease up room,' Lannon said. 'The consequence of that, of course, is that you get Ukrainians who have started to make a life for themselves in one part of the country, then they are
uprooted and brought to a different part of the country
.'
Lannon said that 'huge efforts' had been made to try and get people who've received documentation out of the existing Ipas centres, which he said has not been as successful because of the lack of availability of housing.
A further issue that sometimes halts the development of some centres is where planning issues are identified early on in a development, leading to compliance issues or problems facing the accommodation provider over whether they can demonstrate that they can be compliant with planning regulations. This has lead to some failing to meet early hurdles according to figures working in the sector.
However, Lannon said he was concerned by the opposition that has remained to Ipas centres in communities and said that community engagement often isn't enough when the same areas suffer from inadequate GP care and school places.
Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone...
A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article.
Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation.
Learn More
Support The Journal
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Examiner
5 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
John Whelan: Tariff-free services exports are key to growth for now
Across the business front, particularly the digital providers, an audible sigh of relief can be noticed as it became clear that the EU's €93bn list of countermeasure tariffs against the US does not include services trade. The EU's countermeasures will automatically click into force on August 7, said the European Commission, should the US fail to drop the Trump-threatened 30% tariff on all EU exports by then. The big worry for Ireland's services companies, which are mainly US multinationals, accounting for €115bn in exports sales in the first three months of the year as reported by the Central Statistics Office earlier in the month, was that the EU countermeasure tariffs on the US would include services. This would have had major implications for the many thousands employed in the sector, likely forcing relocations to other non-EU countries, as well as significantly hitting the Government's corporation tax take. Now the full weight of the EU-US tariff war is set to fall on the wide range of manufactured goods, inclusive of food and drinks products, which could impact on sales output to our largest customer the US, and in the process hitting State funding. The implication of this change in trading relationship with the US is the need to bolster support for Ireland's traders in the services sector, in particular, digital trade providers such as Amazon, Google, Meta, and Microsoft. Foreign-owned enterprises account for 80% of Ireland's services exports, the second highest of the OECD countries, as reported in its Services Trade Restrictiveness Index report 2025. This leaves Ireland more exposed than most countries to US trade pressures, as the vast majority of these Ireland-based multinationals are US-owned. Retaining these global digital players in Ireland must continue to be a priority for the Government, but also there is an urgent need to do more to develop indigenous Irish companies, to ensure more controllable and sustainable growth of the services exports sector. Amazon scraps plan for plant Amazon's scrapping of its plan to build an industrial plant in Dublin, involving a €300m investment which would employ more than 500, because it did not receive the necessary Government guarantees about power supplies the plant would require, is a clear indicator of the challenges faced in retaining the multinationals in Ireland. This Amazon project loss is a critical blow to our attempts to stay up with the global AI tech race, as the now scuttled project involved the creation of an AI testing and manufacturing facility and not a data centre. It would also have enabled the training of a fresh cohort of employees, who could in the future enable the setting up of indigenous AI start-ups. To date, Enterprise Ireland, which supports Irish-owned companies, has failed to significantly grow the service exporting industry. Enterprise Ireland client companies account for under 2% of our total service trade exports. The other 18% of the services exports from Ireland come from entrepreneurs who have built their export businesses without State support. Many of them depend on good access to digital services platforms provided by the likes of Google, Meta, and Microsoft, which again underscores the critical reliance on the connection with the US. Reducing dependence on the US and deepening EU integration in services could be achieved by encouraging more innovation and stimulating much-needed investment. An easy win should be with the UK, which last year imported €314bn in services, but only €12bn from Ireland. Service sector reforms are, of course, not going to be easy, either in their politics or in their execution. The freedom to establish a company in another EU country and the freedom to provide or receive services in another EU country are already established for many services through the EU Services Directive — but implementation has been weak. Services regulations are complex and highly decentralised. In many EU member states, reforms are often implemented by professional associations, who may have a bias against reforms or even a conflict of interest. Many professions and industries thrive on the fees that regulatory constraints generate — and you and I, as service users, are rarely aware of the costs that these regulations impose on us. Read More Trump and von der Leyen set for crunch meeting on EU-US trade talks
The Irish Sun
7 hours ago
- The Irish Sun
Putin suddenly cancels Russia's naval parade after huge losses in Ukraine war as Trump ‘loses patience' with tyrant
VLADIMIR Putin has mysteriously cancelled his annual naval parade at the last-minute as Russia's war losses continue to mount. Ukraine has managed to destroy over a third of Russia's combat fleets in the Black Sea since Putin's invasion in 2022 as well as eliminating over a million soldiers. Advertisement 9 Vladimir Putin has mysteriously cancelled his annual naval parade at the last-minute Credit: AFP 9 A Russian warship upin flames after a Ukrainian attack on a Black Sea port Credit: TELEGRAM/UNPIXS 9 Russian amphibious ship, the Caesar Kunikov, was sunk off the coast of Crimea in a powerful explosion Credit: UKRAINIAN MILITARY/UNPIXS 9 Russia's event is often touted as an opportunity for Putin to show off his military might but Kremlin officials are yet to provide an explanation into why it has been axed. The Ukrainian Center for Countering Disinformation first announced the cancellation online as they said: "The Kremlin can no longer pretend that the war doesn't affect Russia's home front. "The war impacts all areas of life in Russia, even symbolic and high-profile events like the navy parade. "Today, Russian warships cannot feel safe even on their own territory. Advertisement read more in Ukraine war "Against this backdrop, the news that Russia's only aircraft carrier, the Admiral Kuznetsov, will be decommissioned and scrapped is especially telling." Work on the hulking Ukraine has systematically laid waste to Putin's naval forces since 2022 in kamikaze drone and missile attacks. In 2024, Putin's newest and only remaining missile cruiser in the Black Sea was Advertisement Most read in The US Sun Exclusive Exclusive Breaking The 'Zyklon' was taken out alongside the 266-M minesweeper, Kovrovets, in a devastating ATACMS missiles strike. Putin refuses to meet Zelensky to end war as tyrant's forces kill six in fresh blitz on residential area in Ukraine Its sinking was part of Last April, said it had struck the salvage ship Kommuna - the oldest ship still serving in the . Ukraine's top brass say they have decimated 34 per cent of the Black Sea Fleet's 184 warships had been disabled. Advertisement It is not the first time Putin has been forced to axe an annual Russian celebration due to the raging conflict. He was made to cancel midnight firework displays across Russia on New Year's Eve as a joyless consequence of his war. There were even claims that the war-wounded could be scared of the noise from fireworks. Despite facing crippling losses Putin has continued to launch deadly strikes on Ukrainian civilians in recent days as he continues to anger the US. Advertisement America has accused Moscow of dragging out the war with their senseless attacks instead of agreeing to a peace deal. 9 A Russian rocket boat and other warships float past drawbridges above the Neva River ahead of the 2022 parade Credit: AP 9 Putin out on the water at the parade last year Credit: AP 9 Putin unleashed another deadly blitz on civilians with a fire raging in the Dnipropetrovsk region on Saturday Credit: East2West Advertisement US secretary of state Marco Rubio told Fox News on Saturday that President Donald Trump is now growing 'impatient' with Putin's delaying tactics. He said: "I think he is growing increasingly frustrated that despite having very good interaction with Vladimir Putin in phone calls, it never leads to anything. "The time has come for some action here, and I think the president has made that abundantly clear. "He's losing his patience, he is losing his willingness to continue to wait for the Russian side to do something here to bring an end to this war. Advertisement "That wasn't his war, but he wants to see it come to an end." The US has been trying to force Putin to negotiate a deal with Trump issuing a He vented his frustration with the despot, declaring he was The US and Kyiv have also been pushing to get Vlad to meet with Volodymyr Zelensky in what would be the first meeting of the pair since Russia 's illegal invasion. Advertisement But the Kremlin was quick to This isn't likely to happen until the end of August at the earliest, he added. Hours after, Putin ordered his troops to unleash another deadly blitz on civilians. At least six Ukrainians were killed in the horror Russian strikes which targeted a high rise building and left a shopping mall up in flames. Advertisement Kharkiv, Novodvoryansky, Dnipro and Kamianske were all targeted. 9 Death and destruction was brought to Dnipropetrovsk region Credit: East2West 9 Putin has been embarrassed again by having to cancel a parade Credit: Getty
RTÉ News
8 hours ago
- RTÉ News
Russian navy parade cancelled for 'security reasons'
Russia has said a major annual navy parade had been cancelled for "security reasons", without specifying the threat or concern. "It has to do with the general situation. Security reasons are of utmost importance," said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, quoted by Russian news agencies. The parade was meant to be the highlight of Russia's Navy Day, which falls on the last Sunday of July each year and honours the country's sailors. But local authorities in the coastal city of Saint Petersburg, where the warships and submarines were scheduled to pass, said on Friday the parade had been cancelled without giving a reason. Russian President Vladimir Putin - who re-established Navy Day in 2017, nearly four decades after it was cancelled in Soviet times - did not show up in person this year for the first time. Instead, he appeared in a video message hailing the "bravery" and "heroism" of Russia's sailors participating in the offensive in Ukraine. Russia, which launched its military operation on Ukraine in February 2022 with daily bombardments of its neighbour, has faced retaliatory Ukrainian drone strikes on its territory in recent months. The Russian defence ministry said that 100 Ukrainian drones were downed overnight. At least 10 of them were intercepted not far from Saint Petersburg and a woman was wounded, the governor for the northwestern Leningrad region, Aleksandr Drozdenko, said on Telegram. That drone assault also disrupted operations at Saint Petersburg's Pulkovo airport, delaying dozens of flights, the facility's authorities said.
