Sinn Féin TD for Wicklow, John Brady, has today launched a petition calling on the government to hand over the site of the failed emergency international protection accommodation at River Lodge in Newtownmountkennedy for community use.
The petition follows Deputy Brady’s recent questioning of the Department of Justice that revealed that over €400,000 has already been wasted on the site that now lies empty.
Teachta Brady said:
“The current situation is completely unsustainable.
“The Department has absolutely no plan for what they intend to do with River Lodge, all the while they maintain 24 hour security on a site that is empty and unused, and ceased operating as emergency accommodation in December 2024.
“The ongoing cost of providing security is not included in the over €400,000 already wasted, but I am pressing the Department for answers regarding their expenditure on security at an empty site.
“This is yet another unnecessary burden on the taxpayer and hard pressed communities.
“This waste has gone on long enough.
“That’s why I’m launching this petition – calling on River Lodge to be immediately returned to the community for suitable use, to help address the real and pressing needs in Newtownmountkennedy.
“From the outset of this project, government didn’t listen to repeated warnings from the local community and myself about the unsuitability of this site.
“Their approach was reckless and wasteful, and what has unfolded is an omnishambles of mismanagement.
“Perhaps government will listen now and finally bring this saga to an end by returning River Lodge to the local community.”
Sign the petition: