Opening Kildare Ukrainian refugee centre was 'right thing to do' says site owner

AFTER confirming the closure of the 1,000 person capacity Ukrainian refugee facility at Flood’s Cross in Newhall, Naas on Friday (28 March), landowner Fintan Flood spoke candidly about the difficulties – and rewards – of such a fraught endeavour.

“Why did I do it? Well, it was the right thing to do,” Fintan got straight to the point.

“Also, my sister-in-law is from the Ukraine, and I’ve done a lot of business in the Ukraine … but commercially for me it has been a disaster.

“We did it right, it was fully serviced, and we put in an astroturf pitch for the kids.

“It wasn’t done for commercial interest for just 11 months, we thought we’d extend on the contract after the year, but it was the right thing to do.

“Even as a capitalist, I don’t think anyone should spend more than 20 per cent of their income on rent,” said Fintan when asked how its use could be continued to address the housing shortage.

“For nurses or teachers or gardaí, front-line staff, and I could start doing this within 10 weeks’ time if allowed.

“It’s as fully tapped a site as any estate in Naas – fully serviced. We spent €241,000 on sewerage, and €141,000 on water.

“If somebody said to me ‘Horsebox, we need good value accommodation at short notice’ I’d be able to say no problem. It’ll now go back to grazing sheep, but if you really wanted nurses instead of sheep – no problem. If you wanted 1,000 people in accommodation out there within 12 months – no problem – and that could start within 10 weeks.

“It is a fully serviced site, and at peak times there were 685 people being fed there every day.

“You could walk into Lidl in 10 minutes, get a taxi to Sallins Railway Station in 10 minutes, walk down to the bus stop and be in Dublin in 40 minutes.

“There was even a pathway into the middle of Naas specifically built so you wouldn’t have to walk on public roads.

“I’ve walked it, and can do it to Naas Town Hall in 26 minutes."

Speaking about the opposition to the site, he said: “I have some sympathy with the protesters. I have three children, and I don’t have a rat’s arse clue how any of them are going to afford a house. 

“Commercially, it has been an unmitigated disaster, and that’s the nicest thing my accountant said to me!

“I may be an unsuccessful businessman, but I’ve seen thing out there, and met people that I never expected to see, people coming with half legs and missing arms.

“I’ve had pigs heads thrown at me, shite thrown over the gate, my wife and children abuse, and I had to give up a seat on a local board after being screamed at that I was a people trafficker.

Explain how a rural site had such a degree of in-built facilities, he said: “It had full planning permission in 2006 for factories, but was de-zoned in the latest County Development Plan.

“But this policy (the CDP) now says there are enough houses in Kildare so you can’t build anywhere, so societally how can any young people afford a house?

“I’ve done a lot of business all over the US and I predicted Donald Trump would win ... because when you look at all the Democrat-run states like California and New York and Massechusetts, and they’re so over-regulated now that people are moving to places like Texas and Florid where they can afford to build a house."

Reverting to the local rather than geo-political, he said: “But, we did a bit of good, and we’re very proud of it.

“You’d see somebody coming in with legs blown off, yet a week later you could be having a cup of tea with them and they wouldn’t be shaking any more.

“I remember the first time we had to do the mandatory fire alarm test, and the first thing everybody did was dive under the tables.

“When I asked why, they said that every time they heard that sound over the last few years it meant bombs were coming."