The Community Games is to go ahead in Mosney, Co Meath it has emerged. A venue for the Games was put in doubt after a decision last November to accommodate asylum seekers in the former holiday centre.
Mosney emerged as the preferred venue for the Special Activities Weekend in May and the National Finals in September following a Community Games AGM in Tullamore, Co Offaly this weekend.
This followed meetings with the Department of Justice on the issue.
Mosney is currently home to some 170 asylum-seekers but this number will be topped up to 500. This follows a £15 million agreement between the Government and Mosney's owner, Mr Phelim McCloskey, to lease the site and its facilities for five years.
That agreement dismayed the organisers of the Community Games, which have been held at the camp for more than 25 years. The move was criticised by the Irish Refugee Council as running a serious risk of creating a ghetto, while local people have expressed concerns over health and safety issues.
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