‘Towns are without hotels and B&Bs’

“Towns are without hotels and B&Bs,” remarked Cllr Shane P O’Reilly (II), when calling for a package of measures to encourage those in IPAS contracts to return their premises to visitor use.

He requested that Cavan County Council write to Bord Failte, the Department of Tourism and the Department of Finance put the measures in place also to encourage new B&B units to the market.

He made the call “not just” regarding International Protection Accommodation Services, but also “asylum seekers and that”.

Cllr O’Reilly said he recently visited a village in County Antrim and remarked how there was no accommodation in the hotels and B&Bs.

“Every one of them full,” he observed.

He then reflected on his own home county, where “towns are without hotels and B&Bs”.

Tourism, particularly fishermen coming to the area, traditionally “brought in a lot of custom” to the area, he told those gathered. With an “influx of IPAS”, many such facilities have repurposed to accommodate.

“In our rush to do so, maybe the bigger picture was not looked at,” he remarked.

Cllr O’Reilly gave the example of Virginia, which has “no hotel”, describing the town as the “gateway to our county”.

Similarly, he said Kingscourt has “no hotel”.

He said that a “package of measures” is needed to “return these premises to use”.

“If we don’t support it, we wont have it,” he predicted, asking that the council write to the minister to provide supports to bring local accommodation “back into accepting visitor numbers”.

Cllr Clifford Kelly (FF) supported the motion, saying the loss of the hotel for public use in Kingscourt has been a “total disaster” and had a “very damaging effect on the town”.

He too asked that accommodation be turned “back into what they were originally”.

Cllr Kelly agreed that “more people” need to be encouraged into the B&B sector.

“A bit chaotic,” was the phrase Cllr Stiofán Conaty (SF) used to describe the government’s approach to migration.

He believes IPAS centres should be “purposely built” and “publicly owned”.

“I don’t think hotels should have been used,” he opined, adding that people should have been placed in “urban centres” where there is “availability of services among other criteria”.

Cllr Conaty also asked the question where people would go if they are moved out of their current accommodation.

“Where are they going to go?” he asked.

Speaking on the town of Belturbet, Cllr Fay said they are sending visitors to “other towns” for accommodation, with “no B&B in the town” where there was 12 or 13 previously.

“We are losing out,” he said, adding that he believes there should be “some incentive” from Fáilte Ireland to get more accommodation facilities in the area.

“We do come to Cavan all the time, we just can’t stay in Cavan,” a tourist told him recently.

Cllr Trevor Smith (FG) also added to the debate, detailing how “the spin off for the locality has been lost”.

Cathaoirleach of Cavan County Council, Cllr T.P. O’Reilly said there is a need to “cut out the red tape” for seasonal B&Bs, to allow them to operate when the need or demand is there.