The contract for a North Clare direct provision centre is to be extended by a further six months.
The former King Thomond Hotel in Lisdoonvarna first opened its doors as a centre for asylum seekers a year ago this week.
This time last year, the King Thomond Hotel in the North Clare village of Lisdoonvarna was preparing to open its doors to an initial 30 asylum seekers.
That was expected to rise to 115 in the lifetime of the 12 month contract but as early as December last, figures released by the government showed it was operating at above capacity.
The decision to open the centre was not without its controversy – a number of locals there raised concern about the fact that they did not have the services in their locality for the expected population increase.
But a number of measures were introduced to help deal with the extra pressure, including increasing capacity at the local creche.
Now, the procurement competition for the Midwest Region is to be advertised this week, meaning the contract for the King Thomond Hotel has been extended for six months.
Clare FM has contacted hotel owner Marcus White who says he has no comment on the contract extension at this time.
