Rosslare hotel at the centre of IPAS controversy is now ‘bordering on being derelict’ as site lays empty for over two years

By Simon Bourke, Wexford People

For 463 days the Great Southern Hotel in Rosslare Harbour was the epicentre of a protest which saw members of the local community engage in a 24-hour picket outside its entrance. That protest was sparked into life following news that initial plans to redevelop the hotel into a nursing home had been shelved and that an International Protection Accommodation Scheme (IPAS) centre was to be built there instead.

Although work commenced on that IPAS centre in the winter of 2023, the presence of the picketers forced those works to come to a standstill in January 2024. Those protesting, many of them senior citizens, remained in situ until February 2025 when An Bord Pleanála ruled that any development of the Great Southern Hotel required full planning permission and that construction company, Axis Construction, would have to apply to Wexford County Council (WCC) for same.

The old Great Southern Hotel in Rosslare Harbour. Photo: Jim Campbell © jim_campbell 2026

Then, in September 2025, Mr Aidan Gallagher, director of Axis Construction, confirmed that he wished to develop a new hotel at the site instead of an IPAS centre and that there was already interest from “established hotel companies”.

However, with the site effectively empty for the past two-and-a-half years, and the unfinished works exposed to the harsh North Atlantic winds on a daily basis, there are fears that it has become an eyesore and that a derelict sites notice should be issued to Axis Construction.

The site of the old Great Southern Hotel in Rosslare Harbour. Photo: Jim Campbell © jim_campbell 2026

Speaking at the monthly meeting of the Rosslare Municipal District, Councillor Ger Carthy said the condition of the cordoned off site left a lot to be desired.

“The hoarding has collapsed there, can the owner be contacted to rectify those issues?” he asked. “I suspect, from a planning perspective, that the property is bordering on being derelict again.”

In a statement issued to The Wexford People, Mr Gallagher said he was limited in what he could do with the site while he awaited the outcome of a separate planning appeal submitted by a Wexford TD during the protests.

“We are curtailed by the ongoing challenge to An Coimisiun Pleanala of the planning permission, granted by Wexford County Council, by a local TD which is in process since 2024,” he said.

“Hopefully a decision is forthcoming which would allow activity to resume on the site and deliver the hotel as per the planning granted by the council. Being able to complete the development would, I imagine, be in the interests of the entire community.”