‘Anger is being directed at the wrong people’

10:41, 14 Jun 2026Updated 10:43, 14 Jun 2026

Liam Quaide met with residents at Trabolgan and said: “I will represent any person in a difficult situation – Irish, Ukrainian or otherwise – and I will not apologise for showing basic human concern.”(Image: Liam Quaide TD)

A TD has said that “anger is being directed at the wrong people,” as he met with Ukrainian refugees who have recently been served eviction notices after years living in an East Cork holiday park.

After slamming the government’s “phased winding down” of using tourist accommodation for Ukrainian refugees, Social Democrats’ Deputy Liam Quaide said he has been bombarded with hateful messages, including threats on social media.

But the Cork East TD said he is more determined than ever to represent the hundreds living at the Trabolgan Holiday Centre in Midleton after they received an eviction notice.

He had his own message for anyone “accusing me of being a ‘traitor’ because I have expressed concern about older people and disabled people being uprooted from their living arrangements with no clear plan, and children being wrenched out of school.”

He said: “You are wasting your energy.”

“This antagonism will not deter me from doing my job. In fact, it makes me more determined to support the residents. So, in a way, thank you,” he added.

In an update, he shared how he recently met with residents who call Trabolgan home. “These are families who have become part of East Cork,” he said, “children going to local schools, parents working in the area, people contributing to the community around them.”

The Holiday Village has provided accommodation to Ukrainians since March 2022. Now, residents have been instructed to prepare for eviction “in the coming weeks” – a decision Liam Quaide described as “heartless.”

In a social media post this weekend, he shared a photo of his visit to Trabolgan to speak with those impacted and hear their concerns. And he added that he understands the frustration on all sides. He wrote: “I understand that people are frustrated. Across the country, people are under immense pressure – with housing, health, childcare, the cost of living, and a legitimate feeling that basic services are not working as they should.”

“But that anger is being directed at the wrong people,” he said, “It is being stoked and channelled online against vulnerable groups who did not create these problems and do not have the power to fix them. That kind of scapegoating is dangerous and unfair. It lets those responsible for political failure off the hook, while turning people who are struggling against other people who are struggling.

“I will represent any person in a difficult situation – Irish, Ukrainian or otherwise – and I will not apologise for showing basic human concern. Slava Ukraini,” he added.

In 2024, Trabolgan Holiday Centre Ltd saw pre-tax profits swell by 12% to its best-ever revenues of €14.4 million, on the back of its provision of accommodation to Ukrainians. Now, the government wants to change how it accommodates asylum seekers, phasing out the use of holiday parks.

Deputy Quaide previously told Cork Beo that “nobody is pretending emergency accommodation arrangements can remain unchanged forever.”

However, he said the “uprooting” of hundreds of people, including children, older people and people with disabilities, will have a major impact, including “pushing families into a rental market that is already in crisis.”

Prices in the private rental market in Cork are now 64% higher than pre-Covid levels, with the average cost of a two-bed apartment in Cork city now sitting at €2,103.