Protests will continue for 'as long as it takes' at three holiday homes in Co Clare housing asylum seekers, one man has said.
34 asylum seekers arrived at the site of Magowna House Hotel in Inch on Monday evening to the consternation of some locals.
They responded by blockading access with tractors and a silage bale.
It is believed there will be several people in each of the three homes, with Ennis being the closest town eight kilometres away.
A number of asylum seekers have left the site of accommodation that was provided for them in Co Clare.
A blockade by locals at the entrance of the site is continuing.
One Algerian asylum seeker left earlier telling me he wouldn’t be staying where he wasn’t welcome. pic.twitter.com/Hvqg2YDJhu— Barry Whyte (@BarryWhyte85) May 16, 2023
Locals say there is no public transport between Inch and Ennis, and no public lighting on the main road into the town.
Chief Reporter Barry Whyte is there, and told Newstalk Breakfast locals have met with some officials.
"There were over 30 locals who came out, outside the hotel to protest, and a number of them and local Senator Timmy Dooley actually met with the hotel operator," he said
"There was then another meeting with a larger group of locals to discuss what the next course of action would be.
"They were trying to come to an agreement on whether or not the protest would end.
"Locals want guarantees on how many people would exactly be staying here, would the services be provided and things like that".
Local Senator Timmy Dooley has arrived at the Magowna House Hotel to meet locals who are protesting.
Things have calmed down and some locals have been giving some of the asylum seekers a lift into Ennis pic.twitter.com/plN4V7a7PS
— Barry Whyte (@BarryWhyte85) May 16, 2023
Senator Dooley said there was now 'good engagement' between the operator and the community.
"Unfortunately there was no engagement whatsoever with the local community at the beginning," he said.
"That has proven to be a difficulty; people really didn't know what was happening, didn't know who was coming.
"Now a level of engagement has started and hopefully it can be brought to a successful conclusion - that there isn't a necessity to be protesting and blockading the area.
"Hopefully over the next 24 hours some movement can be found".
'It isn't fair to them'
One protester, Ruairí, said he is not moving.
"The protests will continue until we get the assurances we require from the Government," he said.
"Just about numbers and discussions with people about what these people are going to do when they're here.
"They've nothing to do - it isn't fair to them and it isn't fair to anyone, this whole situation.
"There's been no consultation... and there's no trust between the people here and the management; they've been trying to pull the wool over our eyes".
'I brought them for a drive'
Ruairí said there is no issue with the people themselves.
"I brought two of them to the shop earlier on - there's no problem," he said.
"They asked me to bring them to the city centre, all I could do was show them where the city centre was because there is no city centre.
"I brought them for a drive in the road and I recommended they don't go walking [the road] because it's dangerous - and they agreed with me".
He added: "As it stands we have no real answers got, so the protest will continue until we have some kind of assurances.
"I wouldn't put a timeframe on it, there's a strong local community here.
Asked how long they were willing to protest, Ruairí said: "As long as it takes - months, there's no problem".
