Fears over future of last hotel in Mayo town

There are increasing concerns in the Crossmolina area over the number of people being sent into emergency accommodation in the town’s last hotel, according to a local councillor.

Cllr Michael Loftus told last week's meeting of the Ballina Municipal District that there are about 26 people, including children, in emergency accommodation in the Dolphin Hotel in Crossmolina at the moment.

“I’m just concerned they are looking to pour people into it and we as a community are just worried it will become a location for homeless people. I know there is no contract in place with Mayo County Council and the hotel,” he said.

“We got a presentation from Tom Gilligan [Director of Housing with Mayo County Council] who told us that hotels were not used as accommodation for homeless people yet this is what we see in Crossmolina.”

Cllr Loftus said local people have expressed concern about young children staying in the hotel.

“This is our only hotel and it is a big loss to the community. There are children in that hotel and I don’t feel it is a suitable environment.

“Our hearts go out to anybody in that situation but it is not a suitable place.”

Head of the Ballina Municipal District Declan Turnbull said that nine homeless cases, consisting of 10 adults but no children, presented at the MD office during March.

“Each case takes a lot of work and there are not a lot of places for homeless people. It is becoming a bigger issue."

Mr Turnbull said a great deal of municipal district resources go into dealing with cases of homelessness.

“Every case is very different. Sometimes someone presenting as homeless find their own solution, sometimes we can house them ourselves, and in some cases, people have nowhere else to go and we have to find emergency accommodation for them.

“We try to keep one or two houses as emergency accommodation but they get filled up quickly. Then the likes of the Dolphin and other premises around the county are used. These are issues we have to deal with.”

There were 23 new homeless cases in the Ballina municipal district in the first quarter of 2025, almost double the number of cases (12) during the same period in 2024.