Riverside office block in Limerick earmarked for refugees

A RIVERSIDE office block in the heart of Limerick is set to be used to accommodate refugees.

Permission has been given to allow a change of use to River House at Charlotte’s Quay in the city centre to provide housing for those fleeing conflict.

The number of refugees who will be housed in the five-storey building is not known, with the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth not returning queries from the Limerick Leader as we went to press.

In normal circumstances, developers would need to gain planning permission to change the use of office space into residential accommodation.

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However, there are certain exemptions to this when it comes to emergency accommodation, such as what is required for people escaping war zones.

The owner of River House gave a “seven day notice” to Limerick City and County Council last month indicating it intended to start work at River House.

A prominent five-storey office building built in the 1980s, River House was home to staff of the Revenue Commissioners up to 2022.

They relocated to another riverside building, Sarsfield House, leaving their old building vacant.

Elsewhere, another building in the city looks set to be converted to provide for refugee accommodation.

A warehouse unit at Ballysimon Road which was home to building contractor Roadbridge is being converted to allow six ground floor residential units to house refugees.

This development is taking place under the same auspices as the project at River House.

The unit at Ballysimon Road has lain idle since Roadbridge collapsed in early 2022.

A number of refugees fleeing Ukraine moved into the former Salesian secondary school building on the city’s northside earlier this year.