A South Kerry community and business group is calling for the resignation of the Minister for Justice and Equality Charlie Flanagan.
The Cahersiveen Community and Business Alliance is criticizing Minister Flanagan and his department in relation to the former Skellig Star hotel being used as a direct provision centre in the town.
The Cahersiveen Community and Business Alliance claims the minister and his department have misled the local community on three points.
Firstly, the group believes Minister Flanagan misled them on the first suspected case of COVID-19 in the provision centre; it claims the department was informed of the first suspected case on March 24th, yet the local community were only made aware in mid-April.
Department documents released to Radio Kerry show handwritten notes on three pages following a department visit in September; the group claims Minister Flanagan wrongly considered this a full assessment of the Skellig Star hotel.
Thirdly, the Cahersiveen Community and Business Alliance says the minister’s comments about local consultation were inaccurate.
The group says the Skellig Star hotel was sanctioned for use in October, 2019 with a proposed opening date of November 4th, yet no community consultation took place.
Over 80 people protested this morning outside the Legal Aid Board offices in Cahersiveen, where the group called for Minister Charlie Flanagan to resign.
