The hotel only opened in mid-March when, in response to the pandemic, almost 100 asylum seekers were moved there from their emergency accommodation centres. By May 7, a Thursday, up to 30 people marched silently in Cahersiveen, but their placards spelled unity with the Skellig Star residents.
Twelve days later, The Kerryman reporter Sinéad Kelleher heard that the Justice Minister had reserved a full page of this newspaper, having penned an open letter to the people of Kerry, in particular those of Cahersiveen. I was working from home that Tuesday and we were quite close to deadline, Sinead says. There was only one word for it: unbelievable.