Kenneth FoxA developer retained by the Department of Integration to accommodate 80 Ukrainian refugees on the site of a protected building has been served with an enforcement order by Kildare County Council. The local authority issued the enforcement notice, calling for the conversion of protected structure Ryevale House in Leixlip into a multi-occupancy commercial building to be halted, and the building restored to its former state, on May 10th. As the Irish Examiner reports, the notice was issued to builder Derek Hallinan, who works for developer Ronan Mallon, who first acquired Ryevale House for €1.6 million last year. However, Minister for Integration Roderic O’Gorman had previously informed local representatives and locals in Kildare that the plan to host Ukrainian refugees in Ryevale was “consistent with planning law”. On foot of that communication, the minister said he would be ignoring Kildare County Council’s assertion, issued on March 7th, that the use of Ryevale as an accommodation centre breached planning law.

Source: The Herald May 16, 2023 20:57 UTC