The former Presentation Convent in Galway City is still being considered as a location to house migrants.

The confirmation comes as a proposal to accommodate International Protection applicants at a former nursing home in Oughterard was ruled out this week.

The Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (CEDIY) confirmed to this newspaper that an offer to accommodate migrants at the former convent and school on Presentation Road remained under consideration.

“We are continuing to carry out an appraisal of the offer of accommodation for Presentation Secondary School on Presentation Road, Galway,” CEDIY said.

The Galway City Tribune reported in December that the Department was appraising an offer to accommodate asylum seekers at the 1.3 acres site which includes a school building and 25-bedroom convent building.

The property was put up for sale in 2023, and it’s understood the new owner offered it for use by IPAS.

The Presentation Secondary School became Our Lady’s College after it merged with the Mercy in Newtownsmith in 2016 and further amalgamated with St Mary’s College all-boys’ school with the creation of co-ed Coláiste Muire Máthair on St Mary’s Road in 2021.

A decision on the application to use the Presentation Convent site is due within weeks.

Meanwhile, the Department confirmed this week it was no longer considering an offer to use Oughterard Manor – a 32-bed nursing home on Camp Street – for IPAS accommodation.

“All offers of accommodation have to be assessed, but not all are deemed appropriate or suitable. We do not provide information about why individual properties are no longer under consideration,” said a spokesperson for CEDIY.

The decision came days after a meeting in the local community centre attended by around 300 people heard outright opposition to the proposal.

Tom Welby (Ind) one of five Councillors at the public meeting welcomed the news, saying Oughterard needed a nursing home— he was dealing with the family of a North Connemara man in a nursing home in Tuam because there was no capacity locally.

It’s understood 34 Ukrainians living temporarily in Oughterard Manor –including eleven children – are due to move out this week after Notices to Quit were issued.

Cllr Welby said Ukrainians were integrated into Oughterard, and the consensus at the meeting was they should be allowed to remain there in the short-term, and a nursing home was needed in the medium-to-long-term.

Meanwhile, Grúpa Gníomh Ostán Cuan Charna confirmed it was lobbying Oireachtas members to push for IPAS plans for Carna Bay Hotel to be taken off the table.

CEDIY last week confirmed that its assessment of the application had been paused until June, but locals want it ruled out completely.

It’s understood the community in Carna has approached a prominent businessman in Conamara about buying the property and operating it as a hotel.

Pictured: The former Presentation Convent: still under consideration as IPAS accommodation.