Electric Picnic festival site to house hundreds of refugees

Electric Picnic is Ireland’s biggest music festival, with about 70,000 people attending the site over the weekend to see acts such as Billie Eilish, Niall Horan and The Killers.

However the site will get a second life over the next several weeks as the Irish government looks for alternative means to house refugees.

Since February 2021, the Irish government has accommodated more than 92,400 people seeking refuge.

This consists of 69,518 people who have fled the war in Ukraine and 22,700 people seeking international protection. 

“The summer months have seen an increase in the number of arrivals from Ukraine, with more than 10,000 people fleeing here since 1 May, an average of around 650 people per week,” a department spokesperson said.

“It is estimated that up to 500 people could continue to arrive over the next weeks from Ukraine.”