The Tánaiste has rejected claims that the Government bowed to pressure following a decision to house women and children in a hotel in Ballinrobe, Co Mayo, which was initially earmarked for male asylum seekers.
The property was earmarked to house 50 men but the Department of Integration confirmed that a decision was taken at the weekend to make the building available to families in acute need of shelter.
A protest outside the hotel began on Friday at the former JJ Gannon's hotel on Ballinrobe’s main street after news of the plans and ended earlier today.
Speaking during a visit to Mexico, Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin insisted the move was not a U-turn and he said Government would seek to find alternative accommodation for 50 male international protection applicants.
"I think it makes sense as we listen, as we engage in my view to refine how we locate and settle people in particular centres, but it will still be used to facilitate asylum seekers," he said.
The Tánaiste said he understands that people may have fears and concerns, but the rule of law must be respected.
He said: "And that means protecting life and people and property across the board, and people cannot take the law into their own hands, and I'm saying this more generally in respect of any centres that become available or that the Government identifies."
"We have to work within sensible societal norms here, notwithstanding the challenges that people are facing," he added.
Mr Martin said he is concerned about the language used by some of his party's councillors around attacks on premises selected to provide accommodation for asylum seekers.
"I have articulated that concern already and in fact there's a process in place within the party in respect of comments that were made in respect of, in particular, the situation in Galway and the burning of the house there.
"There can be no implication in any commentary that any such actions are justifiable in any shape or form and we have to have basic respect for life and for limb, to property," he said.
'Nobody has right to decide where anybody lives' - McEntee
Protesters had said they wanted assurances from the Department of Integration that plans to house 50 adult males there would not proceed.
"While initially ear-marked for adult males, there is now an acute shortage of accommodation for families and children and it is now intended to place families into this property over the coming days," the Department said in a statement.
Asked if the action by the protestors in Ballinrobe had resulted in a U-turn in the Department of Integration’s plan for the property, Minister for Justice Helen McEntee said that "nobody has a right to decide where anybody lives here".
Speaking to RTÉ News in Co Meath, she added: "We have a rules-based immigration system and where people have a right to be here, we'll be fair, and where people don't, I think we’ll be firm."
Chairperson of the town's community development council Frank Keane said the community has welcomed the news of the premises being used to house the families.
"Our take on this is that we should have been given a lot more information and transparency rather than one working day for the community to prepare," he said.
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Speaking on RTÉ's News at One, Mr Keane said that the Ballinrobe community now requires funding to ensure the proper services are in place for any people who may be arriving.
"It’s very sad that because of policy and procedure that Ballinrobe should be, I suppose, made a scapegoat and seen as just a place to put people and not to have services in place," he added.
The protest is being "disassembled", according to Mr Keane, and the community is happy that families and children will be accommodated at the former hotel.
"When we’re given a bit of notice of arrival of people into the community, we can get funding in place and professional help for the many needs these people have," Mr Keane said.
'Very difficult day' - Keane
He explained that it had been a "very difficult weekend" for people who felt like they had been hoodwinked by the lack of dialogue and notice of the plan from the Government.
"You plant doubt and when that happens people will come to this protest from outside. This is a Ballinrobe issue really.
"You have people who come in and say 'this isn’t true, what they’re telling you’. We did mention this on Saturday that this might be the case but that was all blown up on the air," he said.
Mr Keane criticised the lack of sources of official, "concrete" information and those who he said were coming from outside of the community to join the protest.
"I see even at the moment that they're stopping the protest now they said, but I hear one chap there – that I absolutely don’t recognise – he's questioning everything and they’re trying to keep it going," he said.
"They’re nothing to do with Ballinrobe or anything like that. It gives them the opportunity to do that when people are in turmoil and there’s no dialogue and when there is a lack of transparency," Mr Keane said.
He added that the community are happy with the amended plan and urged people that continuing the protest was unnecessary.
Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue said that given current constraints, in relation to the hotel, it meant changing the configuration to host families and children but that this was not to do with the protests.
He told RTÉ's Drivetime: "It's challenging in general, the country has stepped up exceptionally well and shown their kindness in terms of the massively difficult situation particularly people from Ukraine have had to face.
"It (accommodation decision) wasn't changed as a result of the protests, it was given capacity constraints...a number (of places across the country) have been redesignated as a result of that."
Asked if the 50 males would become homeless now, he said that the Department of Integration continues to work to source potential accommodation places, but that has become more difficult over the last number of months in particular.
"Those 50 are part of the 457 which we don't have accommodation for which the department are trying to find accommodation for and it reflects the general challenge," Mr McConalogue added.
Families will be welcomed with 'open arms'
Michelle Smith, who was at the hotel all weekend, addressed the crowd of around 40 people telling them to go home to their families, after what she described as the first successful protest of its kind in the country.
"We engaged in a peaceful protest and Ballinrobe will now welcome families with open arms. We can now confirm that 50 males will not be coming to Ballinarobe today, tomorrow or this week".
She said the community had been very upset by what she described as "disgraceful treatment" by the Government, with a lack of communication and what she called "calculated timing".
Others also welcomed the news that it would be families and not 50 men being accommodated.
John Niland said the protestors were hugely relieved and that while there was sympathy for people fleeing conflict, the town had to put the needs and concerns of the local community to the forefront.
Speaking on RTÉ's This Week, he said: "Nobody in a free society, nobody in a democracy has a right to exercise a veto on who moves into their area or community. That doesn't just apply to international protection."
Those organising the protest in Ballinrobe citied concerns about the backgrounds of those who may be accommodated at the former hotel, as well as claiming the plan would put additional pressure on the town's infrastructure and facilities.
The CEO of the Irish Refugee Council said there is a need for a national communications campaign to explain Ireland's legal obligation to offer protection to refugees.
Nick Henderson said such a campaign should also include local engagement.
Speaking on RTÉ's Today with Claire Byrne, he said the Department of Integration is doing the bulk of the work in housing people and is under considerable pressure to turn accommodation around at short notice.
Mr Henderson said that people have legitimate concerns and the right to peaceful protests, but warned there can be a fine line "between those concerns and if they can be absorbed by far right rhetoric and misinformation".
Additional reporting Teresa Mannion
