End the Waste of Money at River Lodge, Newtownmountkennedy, & Return it for Community use.
End the Waste of Money at River Lodge, Newtownmountkennedy, & Return it for Community use.
The Issue
We, the undersigned call on the Government to immediately end all further expenditure at River Lodge in Newtownmountkennedy and to transfer the site into community ownership for meaningful local use.
The shocking scale of public money wasted at River Lodge now stands exposed.
Newly released figures show that over €2.8 million was spent in 2024 on the failed international protection accommodation project, followed by a further €1.4 million in 2025, despite the site being completely vacant.
Of this, an extraordinary €1.3 million in 2025 alone has been spent on security for an empty site.
River Lodge ceased being used as emergency accommodation in December 2024, when adverse weather rendered the tented structures unviable and all residents were relocated. The Department has since acknowledged that the site is unsuitable for accommodation purposes and that there is no viable redevelopment plan, particularly due to wastewater and infrastructure constraints. Yet spending has continued unchecked, with money being drained every single day on a site that serves no purpose.
This represents a breathtaking failure of planning, oversight and accountability.
From the outset, local representatives and the community warned that the project was deeply flawed and wholly unsuitable, but the Department pushed ahead regardless, over the heads of residents and elected representatives, with a plan that was never going to work.
This ongoing waste is a kick in the teeth to the people of Newtownmountkennedy, a town crying out for investment, improved services and proper community facilities, at a time when families are already under immense pressure from the cost of living crisis.
This sorry saga of mismanagement must now come to an end.
We therefore call on the Government to:
*Cease all spending at River Lodge immediately, and
*Transfer the site into community ownership so it can finally be used to meet the real and pressing needs of the people of Newtownmountkennedy.
Public money should serve the public good, not disappear into an empty site with no future.
427
The Issue
We, the undersigned call on the Government to immediately end all further expenditure at River Lodge in Newtownmountkennedy and to transfer the site into community ownership for meaningful local use.
The shocking scale of public money wasted at River Lodge now stands exposed.
Newly released figures show that over €2.8 million was spent in 2024 on the failed international protection accommodation project, followed by a further €1.4 million in 2025, despite the site being completely vacant.
Of this, an extraordinary €1.3 million in 2025 alone has been spent on security for an empty site.
River Lodge ceased being used as emergency accommodation in December 2024, when adverse weather rendered the tented structures unviable and all residents were relocated. The Department has since acknowledged that the site is unsuitable for accommodation purposes and that there is no viable redevelopment plan, particularly due to wastewater and infrastructure constraints. Yet spending has continued unchecked, with money being drained every single day on a site that serves no purpose.
This represents a breathtaking failure of planning, oversight and accountability.
From the outset, local representatives and the community warned that the project was deeply flawed and wholly unsuitable, but the Department pushed ahead regardless, over the heads of residents and elected representatives, with a plan that was never going to work.
This ongoing waste is a kick in the teeth to the people of Newtownmountkennedy, a town crying out for investment, improved services and proper community facilities, at a time when families are already under immense pressure from the cost of living crisis.
This sorry saga of mismanagement must now come to an end.
We therefore call on the Government to:
*Cease all spending at River Lodge immediately, and
*Transfer the site into community ownership so it can finally be used to meet the real and pressing needs of the people of Newtownmountkennedy.
Public money should serve the public good, not disappear into an empty site with no future.
427
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Petition created on 8 December 2025