Councillors seek meeting with Ballina site owners amid ongoing IPAS centre rumours
An aerial shot of the former St Mary's Secondary School.
Councillors in the Ballina Municipal District will write to the owners of the former St Mary’s Secondary School building to request a meeting regarding plans to turn it into a centre for international protection applicants (IPAS)
Fine Gael Cllr Marie-Therese Duffy told last week’s meeting of the municipal district that the residents of Convent Hill, which is adjacent to the St Mary’s site, have continuously raised their concerns over ongoing works there.
CH Care, which owns the site, submitted a section 5 planning exemption application to Mayo County Council last November for the use of the former school as temporary accommodation for displaced persons seeking international protection. The application was granted but the Department of Integration rejected an offer to use the premises as an IPAS centre in April.
Despite this and the lack of an approved fire safety certificate being issued by the council, Cllr Duffy said works have continued at the property, much to the concern of local residents.
“Convent Hill is sharing a through road with construction workers working from 7am throughout the night. Vehicles drive through at speeds in excess of 60km an hour,” she said.
“There is noise with diggers, trucks and chainsaws which carries down to the estate. This has been ongoing for over six months.
“There is also false information on a sign on the gate which says a nursing home is being developed. It is close to a protected structure, the former Convent where the nuns lived and is a fire safety hazard.”
Cllr Duffy called on the council to quash the Section 5 declaration and bring an end to the construction. Her comments were unanimously backed by fellow councillors.
Cllr John O’Hara said over 180 residents in Convent Hill had a right to know what was happening on their doorstep.
"These residents can't put up with any more of this. It was rejected by the Government but work is still going on and residents are not being informed of anything," he said.
Cllr Annie-May Reape said the situation is causing a lot of anger and local representatives were being left in the dark about these plans.
Cllr Jarlath Munnelly said the system of planning exemptions for IPAS centres was breeding a lot of resentment.
“If someone is trying to build or provide accommodation, they need to get planning permission. The Government can bring in exemptions for IPAS but can’t for other developments,” he said. “This is creating resentment. The Government keeps extending temporary legislation to allow developments to take place and it is time to end it.”
Cllr Michael Loftus said the Section 5 exemption should have been withdrawn once the Department rejected the offer to use the former St Mary’s site as an IPAS centre. He added that he could not see the developer "spending a small fortune" to turn the premises into an IPAS centre only for this to not work out.
Head of the district Declan Turnbull said it was not possible to take away the Section 5 planning exemption as it issue for a three-year period. He added that a planning enforcement team from Mayo Co Council recently visited the site and deemed the development to be authorised.
Councillors agreed to formally write to the developers CH Care Ltd to seek a meeting regarding the ongoing development.
CH Care Ltd was set up in September 2024 with an address in Dublin 17 and the company directors are Robert McGuigan and Patrick McGuigan who have been directors of 28 other Irish companies between them, according to a company report.
The contacted the Department of Justice, which has taken over responsibility for international protection, to enquire if any subsequent offer has been made to use the property as an IPAS centre. We have yet to receive a response.
