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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Rory Carroll Ireland correspondent

‘Feeling of fear and hatred’: immigration dominates agenda as Ireland votes in local and EU polls

Shannon Key West Hotel
The Shannon Key West Hotel in Roosky, between Leitrim and Roscommon, had been earmarked to house asylum seekers before it was damaged by fire in 2019. Photograph: Patrick Bolger

The Shannon Key West hotel sits silent and derelict in the village of Roosky, its windows boarded up, the grounds colonised by weeds. Birds nest in the roof and occasionally swoop out, breaking the stillness.

The hotel closed in 2011 and was to reopen in 2019 as a home for 80 refugees – but it was damaged in an arson attack in January of that year. In case the message wasn’t clear enough, weeks later came a second arson attack.

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