Three Families And A Number Of Single Men Put Into Isolation At The Kinsale Road Direct Provision Centre

The move comes amid fears of a COVID19 outbreak in the facility

It's been confirmed to RedFM News that all residents have been advised to attend testing this Thursday as they may be close contacts of a confirmed case. 

It's not the first time an outbreak of the virus has caused concern at the centre which is home to around 250 residents. At the end of last year dozens of residents were moved out of the centre to isolate.

Residents there say the system of direct provision was not a safe environment before COVID19, and conditions there have worsened since the pandemic hit. 

Roos Demol is a volunteer who works with people living at the centre and she told RedFM News the welfare of residents needs to be prioritised:

"The problem is that people are living on top of each other. Also, just imagine we are all fed up with the lockdown, but just imagine if you lived in one small room shared with somebody else that you don't really know from a different country. Imagine how fed up these people are? And so these things will keep spreading, I know Cork has a very low number of cases at the moment, it seems to me they're all in places like direct provision centres, and it's high time that these people are prioritised, I think they are the ones that need the first vaccinations now"