Bangor hotel asylum use ends

Controversy has surrounded the use of the Marine Court Hotel by asylum seekers but at a recent meeting of Ards and North Down Borough Council, officials confirmed the Home Office said the hotel will cease to be used “before the end of February.”

Hundreds of asylum seekers have been placed there for over four years, leading to regular protests outside its walls.

At the February meeting of the Ards North Down Active and Healthy Communities Committee, councillors agreed “Dispersal Funding” of £27,040 to help with those asylum seekers still in the borough. This was ratified at the full council meeting last week.

The council will utilise the funding to “continue supporting the Refugee and Asylum Forum, which plays a central role in assisting asylum seekers, refugees, minority ethnic communities and other newcomers to integrate and access essential services in the borough.”

A council report states: “In December 2021 Ards and North Down Borough Council became aware that a number of asylum seekers were to be housed in a hotel in Bangor. Following their arrival, the Home Office awarded funding to councils, administered via The Executive Office.

“Funding was to help with integration, assist with language barriers and resettlement into safe areas. Funding was managed by the council’s Good Relations Team and officers joined the local Refugee and Asylum Forum which had been established.

“The forum included members from local churches, community networks and groups and statutory agencies including representation from PSNI, Health, Education and Mears Housing, who are directly responsible for managing the hotel accommodation.”

It adds: “Further funding of £27,040 was ringfenced, subject to receipt of a completed proposal from the council. This has been allocated using a baseline funding amount of £15,000 per council area plus £12,040, based on the percentage of people seeking asylum in the council area.

“The funding will enable the continuation of key support activities including ESOL classes (English for Speakers of Other Languages), visa support, orientation programmes, pastoral support and engagement for asylum seekers together with information sessions in relation to the laws and cultures of Northern Ireland.”

Green Party Councillor Barry McKee said at the committee meeting: “I welcome some more funding coming to the great organisations, faith groups and community volunteers that are doing great work for newcomers to Northern Ireland, and specifically this borough.”

DUP Councillor James Cochrane said: “I want to take this opportunity to reiterate the longstanding concerns my party has around immigration, the impact it has on our health service, and public services more widely, such as housing etcetera.

"But this has been funded entirely by the UK government, albeit through the Executive Office.

“This is not going to be coming through ratepayers money, the council is not making a financial contribution to this.

"So while we have concerns about immigration, it is not clear what would happen if we were to turn this money down. It has been accepted in the past so we will not be opposing it tonight. But we would like to highlight our concerns about immigration.”