Clare's Phoenix House set to become student accommodation
Phoenix House was previously home to Ukrainians, with the Clare Echo reporting it had housed approximately 200 refugees before its contract with the Department of Integration was abruptly ended. 75 of these Ukrainian refugees were relocated to Lisdoonvarna. The alleged cause of ending the contract was an issue with fire safety regulations and certificates - all of which have now been obtained.
Clare Sinn Féin TD Donna McGettigan said the availability of student accommodation in the centre of Shannon town is great news.
'Whenever terms are starting, we're inundated with people looking for rooms, or looking for this or and this building is just perfect for that,' Deputy McGettigan said. ' It's kind of short term, compact rooms - they wouldn't be for families or anything like that, so it's perfect for them. I'm delighted to see Phoenix House being used for something like this.'
Given the previous concerns about fire safety regulations, Deputy McGettigan spoke to the building owner, Tom Coughlan, about this.
'I met the owner the other day, and Tom said he's got the Fire Safety Certificate,' she said. 'He spoke about students needing accommodation, he said, you know, these people need something. They see a course, and then they put it off because there's no accommodation in the area for them. So he understands that need for them, you know, to have somewhere to come to.'
Although it has been heavily hinted at that the accommodation would be earmarked for students of the Shannon College of Hotel Management, Deputy McGettigan said there has been no confirmation around it.
'Tom didn't specify which type of students, but you know, we have the world renowned college here, the Shannon College of Hotel Management, and we also have a lot of apprenticeships coming in,' she said.
'He's hoping to have the accommodation open this year, so I'm hoping he advertises out and then whichever students decide to use it can use it. If it is the hotel college students, the places that they're staying will still be opened up for the apprenticeships or vice versa.'
The overall feeling amongst the people of Shannon is that this student accommodation is a welcome idea and will 'contribute to the economy' in Shannon.
'There seems to be a general consensus,' Deputy McGettigan said. 'Now, I know there's a huge housing problem in Shannon and that having the airport beside us and having a lot of the aircraft apprenticeships beside us causes those kinds of issues, but hopefully this will alleviate that side of it.
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"I think people just want to see that building in use, you know. It's lying empty for a long time, bar the time the Ukrainian refugees were living in it. People saw the effect of having the Ukrainians in there was good for the town as well. So having that being brought into use, with people being able to contribute to the town, would be great.'
The Integration Department confirmed last month that Phoenix House had not been offered up for international protection applicants' accommodation. Deputy McGettigan said these rumours had only started circulating as there was work being done in the building.
'Well, that was just rumours, because IPAS themselves said there was no application gone in for it,' she confirmed.
'To me that was just rumours because people saw work going on. Tom had contacted Clare County Council to see if they would be exempt from planning if the building was used for IPAS but IPAS themselves said he hadn't actually applied for the building to be used.'
Adrian Sylver, Head of Shannon College of Hotel Management, University of Galway responded to the news, saying: 'We welcome the news that Phoenix House will be repurposed for student accommodation.
"This development represents a positive step in addressing the growing demand for suitable housing for our students, ensuring they have a safe and supportive environment as they pursue their studies at Shannon College of Hotel Management.'
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