Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien has said that he is “disturbed” by protests that took place outside a Ballymun hotel accommodating refugees.
Roderic O’Gorman’s Department of Integration also condemned “any attempts to promote division and hostility”, as the Lord Mayor of Dublin expressed concerns that the “far right” were turning up at the demonstrations.
It comes just weeks after Minister O’Gorman admitted to the Irish Mirror that he has concerns about a “small hardcore [group] of far-right activists in this country”.
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Videos shared online in recent days show a group of protesters standing outside the Travelodge Hotel in Ballymun chanting “get them out”.
The Department of Integration confirmed that there are 221 International Protection seekers staying in the hotel, nine of whom are children. Another 40 asylum seekers are being accommodated in the Sentinel Building in Ballymun.
Some buses had to be diverted out of Ballymun on Monday evening as another protest took place.
Minister O’Brien condemned the events and said that demonstrators have no right to “intimidate” people.
He said: “I'm very disturbed by [the protests] frankly. I watched some of the recordings.
“People have a right to protest, but in the appropriate place. They don't have a right to intimidate people either.
“It concerns me to see that to be very frank and I think that if people have a different viewpoint, they're entitled to it. But they're not entitled to intimidate people.”
A spokesperson for Minister O’Gorman’s Department also condemned the protests.
They said: “Over the past year, communities across Ireland have demonstrated great solidarity and welcome for those who come here seeking refuge.
“The Department strongly condemns any attempt to promote division and hostility towards those who come here seeking safety.”
Dublin Lord Mayor Caroline Conroy described the protests as “embarrassing” and “upsetting”.
“There were a lot of people that weren’t from Ballymun,” she told RTÉ’s Today with Claire Byrne.
“There are people who are locals there definitely, but an awful lot of them are far-right protesters.
“They unfurled their protest banners which were quite visual. They're also going around doing a leaflet drop.”
Ms Conroy organised a meeting for public representatives to speak about the issue on Monday afternoon but the Irish Mirror understands that there were no representatives from the Department of Integration present.
Social Democrats co-leader Roisin Shortall has written to Minister O’Gorman’s office calling for him to attend a meeting this week.
The local TD told the Irish Mirror that the “ugly and aggressive” protests did not represent the majority of people living in the area.
The protests in Ballymun come following a number of demonstrations in Drimnagh, Dublin, last week.
Groups protested outside a school that had provided accommodation to the Department of Integration for use during the Christmas holidays. However, asylum seekers who had been staying in the building had been moved out before the protests took place.
Similar protests were held in Dublin’s East Wal last month over the arrival of international protection seekers at an old ESB office building.
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