A homeless hostel is to open on Aungier Street in Dublin, that will be the biggest in the State.
Avalon House, that includes a Starbucks on the ground floor, is to be turned into a shelter with space for 155 people.
It's currently a hostel for tourists. According to the Irish Times it will shut in the coming weeks.
The facility, which will be operated by the Peter McVerry Trust, is part of the Dublin Region Homeless Executive's cold weather strategy. However the beds will remain in the system when the winter initiative ends.
Independent councillor Mannix Flynn says there's been no consultation with local residents or businesses.
He says its a disaster for the area, which is already saturdated with similar shelters:
"There's already three facilities within in this area. There's DePaul which is right beside it which basically deals with people who have addiction issues, you have the Salvation Army just on the corner of Aungier Street and you also have a Peter McVerry Trust facility on Aungier Street anyway."
