Refugees will be housed at former Friary church in Clonmel

A total of 55 Ukrainian refugees are to be accommodated at the former Friary in Clonmel, The Nationalist has learned.

The families will arrive at the building in Abbey Street by the middle of May.

It’s understood that they will be accommodated in the residential part of the building and not the former church, which closed in early January.

Clonmel’s Mayor Pat English welcomed what he said was “positive” news.

He said that we should do anything we could as a country to try and help Ukrainian people who were fleeing from war in their homeland.

The fact that we weren’t able to provide houses for our own people was the fault of successive Governments for failing to deal with the housing crisis and Ukrainian refugees couldn’t be blamed for that, he stated.

Cllr English welcomed the fact that the building would be used and that it wouldn’t fall into a state of decay, like other buildings around the town.

He expected that the accommodation of the refugees would be a temporary measure, although one that could last for a few years.

It’s understood that the refugee centre will be run by a private company.

A decision has yet to be made on the future of the Friary church, which includes St Anthony’s Shrine.

The Franciscan Order attributed a fall in vocations for the decision to close the church on January 6 last after 753 years in the town.

The people of Clonmel bade a sad goodbye to the Franciscan Order, which had a presence in the town since 1269, at a Mass of Thanksgiving and Farewell, a poignant and solemn occasion attended by hundreds of people.