A seven-month protest by residents has prevented the Department of Justice from using a hotel bought to house asylum-seekers.
The Department says it expects to conclude talks soon with protesters who have maintained a round-the-clock blockade of the Devereux Hotel in Rosslare, which was bought for nearly £2 million at the end of March.
It was intended to use the 25-bedroom hotel as a reception centre for up to 80 asylum-seekers arriving at the nearby port.
Most would remain for up to a fortnight before being moved to accommodation centres elsewhere.
The loss of the hotel, and its intended use, angered some locals who placed a picket on the building and parked a number of heavy vehicles in front of it on April 8th. They have maintained a presence there since.
A Department spokesman said yesterday it was still intended to use the premises as a reception or accommodation centre for asylum-seekers. He declined to go into detail on discussions with protesters.
The Minister for Justice, Mr O'Donoghue, told the Dail this week it had not been possible to use the hotel for the purpose intended "because of local opposition".
"However, discussions with local representatives are continuing with a view to ensuring that the facility can be used by the directorate (of asylum support services) as part of its overall strategy for meeting the reception needs of asylum-seekers in the south-east region. I would anticipate that these discussions will conclude shortly," he said.
A spokesman for the protesters could not be contacted yesterday but a source said the talks had reached a stalemate and there was no prospect of a resolution in sight.
He said the residents had no intention of calling off their protest.
