Two protests took place in Roscrea in Co Tipperary, amid continuing opposition to using a hotel on the outskirts of the town to house families seeking international protection.
A few hundred of people gathered on the main street, while a similar number maintained an ongoing blockade at the Racket Hall hotel, which had been the town's only operational hotel.
That protest has been led by a group calling itself the Pro-Justice Roscrea Nenagh and North Tipperary Open Forum and began on Thursday night.
Up to 160 people are due to be moved into the building. The blockage continues this evening.
It was attended by local independent TD Michael Lowry this afternoon, who also spoke at a protest in the town's Main Street, which was organised by a group called Roscrea Stands Up.
It was also addressed by independent TD Mattie McGrath and Sinn Féin's Martin Browne.
Mr McGrath told the crowd that he would bring up the situation in Roscrea in the Dáil next week, but criticised the fact that the Taoiseach would not be there, as he would be attending Davos.
"There is no consultation, and above all there is a simmering under the surface because people are very angry because the Government aren't listening, they won't debate (the issues) in Dáil Éireann," Mr McGrath said.
There are currently over 550 recently arrived male International Protection Applicants without State provided shelter due to what the Government has said is a "severe shortage" in available accommodation, and it has warned that accommodation for families is also scarce.
Mr McGrath said that that it was "totally unfair" for people from any country to be "sleeping in tents of sleeping rough" however he said, "we have 14,000 homeless of our own, we clearly have a capacity issue."
"They've known about this for some time and we've been warning about it, " Mr McGrath said.
Mr Lowry said that Roscrea had been "very generous and very welcoming".
There are currently around 200 International Protection Applicants living in the former Sean Ross Abbey, and up to 400 Ukrainians Refugees are being accommodated at the Sacred Heart Convent in the town.
"So, the difficulty in Roscrea is that the services here and the resources are overloaded," Mr Lowry said.
"I'm in favour of meeting our international obligations, but you must do it in a planned coordinated, organised way, at the moment we have no plan, we are just making it up as we go along, and that's leading to this outcry that we're getting in local communities," Mr Lowry said.
Local Fianna Fáil councillor Michael Smith, who said he has a number of concerns and questions about the use of the hotel in this way, and the way this was communicated to the community and staff, said that he did not attend either protest "on principled reasons" because those offered the accommodation are vulnerable.
"These are families that are coming from war torn tyranny, leaving behind their livelihoods, and that's why I didn't attend the protest," he added.
"The decision has been made by the Department, the decision has been made by IPAS (International Protection Accommodation Service). I as a public representative, as a councillor had no hand, act or part in that decision, nor can I change it, but I do want to reach out to the owners to talk to them."
He has also sought a meeting with the Department of Integration, Roderic O'Gorman.
"We have huge challenges," Mr Smith said, "I think it's time the Government stepped up."
"We had a council meeting on Friday and passed a number of resolutions trying to seek more information and to date we haven't gotten it and that's disappointing," he said.
Department of Integration meet with senior staff
In a briefing document sent to local representatives, the Department of Integration said that "staff numbers will be increased as and when resident numbers increase on-site".
RTÉ News understands that senior staff met management yesterday and they were offered the option of retaining their jobs with additional training provided as necessary.
It is understood that they have until Tuesday to decide if they will accept that offer.
However, less is known about the fate of part-term staff. "That's where the uncertainty is, and this hasn't really been clarified," Cllr Smith said.
RTÉ News understands that senior staff met management yesterday and they were offered the option of retaining their jobs with additional training provided as necessary.
It is understood that they have until Tuesday to decide if they will accept that offer. However, less is known about the fate of part-term staff.
Teresa Collins was among those who attended a protest on Main Street in Roscrea.
Her life is connected to two buildings at the centre of the discussion around asylum seeker accommodation in the town.
She is a representative of the Sean Ross Mother and Baby Group.
"We are children born out in Sean Ross," she said.
The building of that mother-and-baby home is now an international protection accommodation centre in the town, accommodating around 200 international protection applicants.
Each September, they hold an event to welcome back people who were born in Sean Ross, and that is where the current row over the Racket Hall Hotel comes in.
The Department of Integration has said that the hotel will become accommodation for 160 members of families seeking International Protection in Ireland. However, the same hotel is where those who attend their commemorative event stay each year.
Ms Collins said that each year they welcome people who are "Canadian, American, English and European, who have been born in Sean Ross and who come back and stay with the Racket Hotel."
While there are guesthouses in the town, and hotels in neighbouring towns, Racket Hall has been Roscrea's only operating hotel.
Ms Collins said that she put up an online notice today advising those planning to attend their commemorative event later this year will have to source alternative accommodation.
"I was dumbfounded because we could always rely on the hotel, and it was a lovely hotel," she said.
