Clare protesters vow to continue barricades at Inch hotel
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Protesters who have mounted barricades across the entrance of a remote hotel in Co Clare being used to house refugees have vowed to carry on their blockade.
Speaking on behalf of the protestors, Agnes O’Malley said that Integration Minister Roderic O’Gorman’s refusal to meet the protestors in person was “disappointing”.
She said that the invitation was still open for him to meet them but that the protest will now continue.
The mother-of-five, who lives across from Magowna House Hotel at Inch, was speaking in response to Mr O’Gorman’s condemnation of the protest as “beyond acceptable”.
The protest started when tractors and cars moved into place just after 6.40pm on Monday when a coach, carrying around 34 male asylum seekers, arrived at the gates of the hotel, which is about 5km from Ennis.
Their arrival took most people by surprise, including the very case workers from the Clare Immigration Support Centre who are paid by the HSE to - among other things - help integrate immigrants into their local communities.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has condemned the protest, saying: "Nobody gets to say who can or cannot live in their area. And we can't have that kind of situation." Speaking in Iceland, he said the concerns people have about their locality should not be dismissed, "but that doesn't mean that anyone can say that certain types of people can’t live in their area".
Mr O’Gorman, who met with Clare TDs to discuss the protest and the prospect of his meeting the protestors, has indicated he will not travel to Inch to meet protesters but said he would be “open” to meeting them online or at the Department of Integration in Dublin.
In the meantime, he called on protesters to “reflect” on what they are doing. He added that he believes "preconceptions" about asylum seekers will fall away once those seeking shelter are integrated into the Clare community.
In a statement issued last night, Mrs O’Malley said: “Having read the minister’s reply to our elected representatives, we feel disappointed and let down with his response.
“Our position as a community is that this location is totally unsuitable for this purpose.
“We invited Minister O’Gorman to come down in person to view the location and accommodation.
“Our peaceful protest will continue.”
The morning after arriving at the hotel, around 10 refugees left on foot.
While some told reporters they were “delighted” with their new accommodation - compared to where they had previously been in Dublin’s Citywest - others said the protests made them feel unwelcome and they said they did not like the remote location.
Somalian Ismail David Ismail has said the protest is something he can live with.
He told reporters that he has seen far worse in his native land, saying: "I've got too many stories that I cannot tell. I've seen everything, this is easy."