The Carna Bay Hotel, a key venue for weddings, christenings, and summer festivals in the scenic coastal village of Carna, County Galway, Ireland, has been closed to the public for three years. Once a hub of activity during tourist season, it was repurposed to house Ukrainian refugees under a temporary government contract.
According to reports, the move was initially intended as a short-term arrangement, but locals say it has had a detrimental effect on the community and local economy. Tensions have since escalated following an application to convert the hotel into an International Protection Accommodation Services (IPAS) centre for asylum seekers.
The proposal would see the 28-room hotel house up to 84 migrants, a significant increase for a village of fewer than 180 residents. In response, local residents—many wearing high-visibility jackets—have formed a group, the Carna Bay Hotel Action Group, to protest the plans. They have been maintaining a 24-hour vigil outside the hotel amid reports that a busload of migrants might arrive.
The group hopes to prevent the hotel’s conversion and see it returned to community use. Talks are ongoing after the Irish government paused its appraisal of the application for three months to allow a local group to put forward a proposal to develop a “community-led hotel.”
Maedhbh Ní Ghaora, 28, who is leading the protest, told MailOnline that businesses have suffered since the hotel’s closure. “There was a lovely atmosphere in the village when we had the hotel opened and trading – and that’s the way we want it back,” she said.
Ms Ní Ghaora pointed to the lack of local infrastructure and amenities, stressing that the nearest towns are 23 and 50 miles away. She added that there is only one bus service in the area, making it an unsuitable location for accommodating asylum seekers. She also expressed concern over the impact on tourism and local events.
“The culture and the livelihood of the village has declined without somewhere to stay,” she said, adding: “We knew it was always temporary, but how far can temporary go? This is year three.”
Other residents expressed similar concerns. John Foalan, 64, told the publication that while the village initially welcomed Ukrainian refugees, the potential arrival of undocumented migrants has raised fears: “We know what it would be, a busload of males of unknown origin with no proper identification… It’s happening in every small town and village—it’s all the same.”
Another resident, Maureen, 74, said: “There’s no work for local people, never mind having more people coming in, and there’s nothing for them to do. It doesn’t make sense, especially in small communities.”
Peter Fitzpatrick, who runs the local pub Tigh Mhóráin, said that his business has sharply declined since the hotel’s closure. He said he went from employing five staff to just one and has cut back significantly on beer offerings. “We thought it would only last a couple of weeks or months and it would be back to normal. Now it’s going into the third year,” he said. He warned that the wrong kind of clientele could force him to close. “It’s hard to hear people saying they are going to sell up and leave… I think it would destroy the community.”
Mr Fitzpatrick also expressed concern for the well-being of asylum seekers potentially housed in Carna, noting the lack of activities and services: “For their own mental health, it would be totally unfair on them.”
Tensions have also grown between villagers and the former hotel owner, Karl Rogers, who sold the hotel following post-Covid trading struggles. Mr Rogers said: “We wouldn’t have sold the hotel—100 percent—if we knew it wasn’t going to be owned as a hotel.”
He explained that he took in Ukrainian refugees under the impression it was a temporary measure and that there was an understanding the hotel would eventually reopen for tourism. “Even though we have been gone two-and-a-half years, people are still blaming us,” he said. “I don’t think it’s fair on [the Ukrainians] that there is protesting outside the hotel.”
Meanwhile, Máirín Ní Choisdealbha-Seoige, manager of Carna’s Community Development Co-op, said her group is conducting a feasibility study on turning the property into a community-run hotel. She said the group is seeking funding through several avenues, including crowdfunding.
“The wellbeing of the whole community has to be brought into consideration,” she said. “We have three months to produce a plan and what we need is the space to deliver that.” She recounted difficulties hosting last year’s Tionól Gaeltachta, a national Irish-language and culture event, due to lack of accommodation: “If the hotel was there it could have been a hub.”
The Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth told MailOnline that no contract is currently in place to accommodate international protection applicants at the Carna Bay site. A spokesperson said: “We informed the community and media… that we had decided to pause the appraisal of this offer for three months… to let the community advance this proposal with the appropriate bodies.”
Responsibility for both Ukrainian refugee and international protection accommodation is set to be transferred to the newly created Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration.
The debate in Carna comes amid a broader national conversation on immigration. Former MMA fighter Conor McGregor recently criticised the Irish government at the White House, claiming the country is “potentially losing its Irishness” and described the system as an “illegal immigration racket.”
He further claimed that towns in rural Ireland had been “overrun in one swoop,” and criticised the €1.43 billion (£1.2 billion) Ireland spent on housing asylum seekers and refugees in the first nine months of last year.