Ukraine war: Refugees to be housed in Irish military camp

Ukrainian refugees arriving in the Republic of Ireland will be housed at a military camp from Monday.

Around 250 people had to stay in an old terminal building at Dublin Airport on Wednesday night due to a shortage of accommodation.

Gormanston Camp, in County Meath, will host up 320 people when fully operational.

Around 41,000 people fleeing the Russian invasion have arrived in the country to date.

Taoiseach Micheál Martin said 30,000 of those have been offered accommodation.

The government said 160 people were transferred out of Dublin Airport on Thursday.

The Irish government says it is running low on accommodation

Mr Martin also said there had been unprecedented numbers of people coming to Ireland from other countries seeking protection this year.

Alternative arrangements

The Department of Equality said Ukrainian refugees are not being turned away from Ireland due to current pressures.

With state-provided accommodation reaching capacity, Ireland's Department of Children said on Wednesday night that anyone arriving into the country would have to stay in Dublin Airport if they did not have somewhere to stay.

It said that the government was working intensively to put alternative arrangements in place with immediate effect.

The operator of Dublin Airport said it had made the Old Central Terminal Building available to the Department of Children to help them facilitate the arrival of Ukrainian nationals into Ireland.