Plans are underway to accommodate 50 Ukrainian refugees in a hostel in Ballycastle in north Mayo.

That was confirmed by council management at the monthly meeting of Ballina Municipal District yesterday.

Local Fianna Fail councillor Michael Loftus asked for clarification, as he said that locally, there was growing curiosity about the plans for the hostel and how many refugees/ asylum seekers were likely to be accommodated in it.

The councillor called on council management to engage with the local community early in the planning process, as he said 80 as thought, or 50 people as confirmed by Director of Services Tom Gilligan yesterday, is a significant population increase in the village.

Cllr Loftus questioned if the essential infrastructure and services are in place locally – to accommodate this influx in population.

Afterwards he spoke to Midwest News about why he sought clarification on the plans for the 48 unit, state of the art hostel in Ballycastle and urged the local authority to talk to the local community in the early stages of planning the development ..