Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has described protesters who clashed with gardaí as they tried to prevent asylum seekers from entering accommodation in Co Tipperary as “anti-freedom” and “anti-democratic”.
Scuffles broke out at the Racket Hall Hotel in Roscrea on Monday as protesters gathered while asylum seekers were being taken into the premises.
Demonstrators have been gathered outside the property since Thursday after news broke that the hotel was to be used to house asylum seekers.
Gardaí, including members of the public order unit, formed a cordon at the entrance to the site while the international protection applicants were bussed to the hotel.
A man was arrested during the incident.
The building is to provide accommodation for around 160 applicants.
Mr Varadkar said he was “very disappointed” at the scenes that unfolded outside the hotel.
“Ireland is a republic, we’re a democracy, we’re a free country, and in a republic and in a democracy and a free country, people have the right to protest, they have the right to hold views that other people may find objectionable,” Mr Varadkar said on Tuesday.
“However, nobody has the right to engage in violence against other individuals, to damage property or to prevent people getting to their home or get into their work. That’s anti-democratic. That’s anti-freedom and that’s against the spirit and the values of our nation.”
He added: “I do want to say this as well – I understand how a lot of people in Roscrea feel. Bear in mind only a small minority of people were involved in the events yesterday, and some of them weren’t from Roscrea. I understand that hundreds of people have been accommodated in Roscrea in the last couple of years, both from Ukraine and people seeking international protection.”
Mr Varadkar said the rising number of people in the area has put the town’s resources under pressure, adding he understands people’s frustrations.
“One of the things we will be doing at Cabinet today is asking all ministers to come together, to take the 10 districts in the country that have the highest proportion of people from Ukraine and people seeking international protection, and to put together a special package to help those areas that are under pressure,” he added.
“We’ve done that to a certain extent already with the Community Recognition Fund. But I think we need to do more to help out, to increase resources around health, around education, around policing, to respond to genuine concerns that people have when there’s a large increase in the population in their area.
“I think we need to do that, need to step up those efforts.”
Mr Varadkar said part of the solution to labour shortages in Ireland is migration.
“That’s why it’s important that we continue to be open to migration, but it needs to be migration that’s managed well,” he added.
“That means being fair and welcoming to those who enter the country legally, to study, to work, to join family. It also means being very firm with people who try to enter the country illegally, or try to take advantage of our systems.
“We have to step up our efforts there as well.”
Meanwhile, Minister for Integration Roderic O’Gorman said child asylum seekers being accommodated at the hotel were “upset” at the scenes on Monday.
Mr O’Gorman said the site would be used for families and single women, adding that women and children being accommodated at the hotel on Monday witnessed the clashes.
Mr O'Gorman said: “My understanding is, from talking to my officials, that they’re settling in, but it was a difficult enough experience, children were upset at seeing the scuffles, experiencing the violent tension as they arrived.”
He said he respected the right to protest but added that people could express themselves in a way that “doesn’t impact on vulnerable people”.
Mr O’Gorman said: “I don’t think it is ever acceptable to block people’s access to the place that they’re staying.”
Speaking to RTÉ Radio, he said some locals are motivated by concerns about the town’s resources and that his department would be meeting local representatives to see how the region could be supported.
However, the minister added: “I think we also recognise there are people who are travelling around the country – far-right activists – who are looking to stir up anti-immigrant sentiment.”
Mr O’Gorman said he does not currently have plans to visit Roscrea personally.
The Minister said he was bringing proposals to Cabinet that are “more planned, more structured and more resourced”.
He said this would involve building large reception centres, noting that continuing to use properties such as Racket Hall was “unsustainable”.
Mr O’Gorman did not provide a figure for how many centres would be needed.
He said the Government was working on a robust communication campaign to tackle what he described as substantial “myths” about immigration.
Cillian Sherlock and Cate McCurry, PA
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