‘Can’t remain unchanged forever – but this is not humane’
11:20, 11 Jun 2026Updated 12:00, 11 Jun 2026
Trabolgan Holiday Village(Image: Instagram: @trabolgan_holiday_village)
The government has begun a “phased wind down” of tourist accommodation for Ukrainian refugees – and now hundreds of Ukrainians living at the Trabolgan Holiday Centre in Midleton have received an eviction message.
The Holiday Village has provided accommodation to Ukrainians since March 2022. Now, residents have been instructed to prepare for eviction “in the coming weeks,” in a move slammed by Cork East TD Liam Quaide as “heartless.”
Deputy Quaide told CorkBeo: “I’m very aware of how well integrated these families are locally and how shocking this eviction notice will be for them – children settled in our schools, parents working locally, friendships formed, lives rebuilt after unimaginable trauma.
“I am also conscious of the trojan work done by local teachers, SNAs, community workers and volunteers who have stood with these families from the beginning. That makes the way this is being handled all the more heartless.”
Deputy Quaide added that “nobody is pretending emergency accommodation arrangements can remain unchanged forever. But uprooting hundreds of people, including children, older people and people with disabilities, with vague timelines and no clear alternative, is not a humane transition. It risks wrenching children out of schools, forcing people out of jobs, and pushing families into a rental market that is already in crisis.”
Prices in the private rental market in Cork are now 64% higher than pre-Covid levels, with the average cost of a two-bed apartment in Cork city now sitting at €2,103.
In 2024, Trabolgan Holiday Centre Ltd saw pre-tax profits swell by 12% to its best ever revenues of €14.4 million, on the back of its provision of accommodation to Ukrainians.
Of the threat still faced by Ukraine, Deputy Quaide said: “In many areas of Ukraine, including occupied and formerly occupied regions, the danger to civilians has intensified in recent months with regular Russian attacks. Ireland responded to the invasion of Ukraine with notable generosity. That was something to be proud of. But it is deeply dispiriting to see our government swing from that generosity to callousness as the political winds have changed.
“As Ukraine is being discarded by the US government and thrown to the wolves in the Kremlin, decency and compassion and sensible planning need to win out over populist reactivity in our policies towards their refugee population living here.”
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