Vacation Home Owner Claims Right to Hide Behind Wall, Calls Out Family's Shock as 'Much Ado About Nothing'
The owner of a vacation home has been suspended from a travel booking site after a family stumbled upon him in a "hidden room" behind a makeshift wall. Seamus Shay Conway brazenly asserts he had every right to occupy the space, claiming there’s nothing sinister about his presence.
Conway insists he did nothing wrong and maintains that the property remains listed on the travel portal. He confirmed that he was indeed found behind the wall by guests, stating, “I was (in there) yeah. In my room. And I have a back exit. I’m entitled to stay there. It’s my house.”
The incident erupted into headlines when a guest named Therese called a radio program, revealing her shock at discovering a man concealed behind a wall during their one-night stay at the rental property in Courtown, Co Wexford.
Conway, the registered owner of the house at 26 Glenbeg Point, defended his actions, claiming the guests took down a panel off the wall after arriving and called the police. He stated, “Well I had a group of people who came to my house.”
Therese explained that she had booked the accommodation with her partner and two children. Upon arrival, she encountered Conway while collecting the key and noticed he had laundry running. She asked if he would be present later, to which he replied he wouldn’t be.
After returning to the rental that night, Therese and her partner found the washing machine running, raising suspicions about Conway’s presence. She turned off the machine because it was near the kids’ beds and asked her partner to check the rooms.
Feeling uneasy, Therese described how they noticed a thin piece of plasterboard with a nail in the sitting room. When her partner moved it, they were met with darkness and Conway’s voice saying “hey, hey.”
“I went to get the kids and just leave right now,” Therese recounted. Despite the shock, Conway claimed there was nothing inappropriate about his residing in his own home.
He argued that the room had its own exit and was separate from the main house. “They say it was behind a wall. It was in a room with its own exit. There’s nothing wrong with that,” he stated.
When pressed about whether he informed the family of his room's location, Conway responded, “To describe a wall as something sinister is very unusual.” He explained that guests could not access his exit point from the back garden due to a fence separating their areas.
Conway maintained that he disclosed his presence to guests when relevant. “If I’m staying, yeah,” he said. He dismissed suggestions that living behind a wall was odd, stating, “If there has to be a room there has to be a wall.”
Currently in Italy, Conway claimed his property remains fully booked despite being temporarily suspended from the booking site. “I’m actually full. I’m full. There’s no availability,” he asserted.
When questioned about bathroom access in his small space, he simply replied, “Em I have a bathroom there.”
Conway reiterated that the entire situation is being blown out of proportion. “I think it’s much ado about nothing,” he said.
The travel booking site confirmed Conway's ad suspension pending an investigation into safety and security concerns. A spokesperson stated they take such matters seriously and launched an ongoing investigation.
Local authorities confirmed they were called to the property but found no criminal wrongdoing. A Garda spokesperson stated, “Gardaí responded to the matter and no criminal offence disclosed, at this time.”