A Fianna Fáil councillor has hit back at suggestions the party will take disciplinary action against him because of his criticism of the Government's migration policy.
Councillor Noel Thomas said he has had zero contact from the Fianna Fáil party about any potential disciplinary action.
Yesterday, Tánaiste and party leader Micheál Martin dismissed as "absolutely unacceptable" comments made by Mr Thomas, and another local Fianna Fáil councillor Séamus Breathnach, who criticised the Government's policy on migration.
The councillors were speaking after a fire broke out at the Ross Lake Hotel in Rosscahill, Co Galway at the weekend, which was due to house 70 international protection applicants.
Gardaí are treating the fire as arson.
Cllr Séamus Breathnach said that if the fire was criminal damage then it was prompted by the senseless policy of the Government.
Meanwhile, Mr Thomas said on Monday that the "inn is full" and Ireland should not accept any more refugees.
The comments by the councillors were referred to the party's internal rules and procedures committee.
Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland today, Mr Thomas said: "The only place I am learning about this is through the media, and I am unaware of any investigation."
He said he spoke with Mr Martin on Sunday.
Mr Thomas said he stated he was not happy with what is happening in the country at the moment, and Mr Martin said he was not happy with the councillors' comments on the matter.
"That was the gist of the conversation. When I say the inn is full, I say the inn is full because of irresponsible open border policies that this Government has in place," he said.
"When the problems started in Ukraine, this country was flooded with migrants and they were flooded with migrants because, and I don't blame any of them, I have to say that firsthand. I don't blame any of them. Because it was it was such an attractive package that was put to them," Mr Thomas claimed.
"Now, the majority of those as far as I'm concerned, were not people who were fleeing war torn areas," Mr Thomas added.
The Tánaiste said accommodating migrants had been government policy for a number of decades under European Union rules and the Geneva Convention.
Mr Martin added that there was no link between migrants and bad behaviour.
He also said the Government must create a better narrative around communicating the issue of migration.
Mr Martin said people can experience fear and there is an obligation to ease any concerns but it is important to have an "evidence-based approach".
The Tánaiste said the broader story of migration has been positive and there had been no appreciable increase in crime in any location of migrant centres over decades.
Mr Thomas said leaders may have a legal obligation to take people in, but he believed it is their legal obligation to look after this country first.
He said that he hoped to stay in the Fianna Fáil party.
"To be honest, I think I am much more entitled to my place in the Fianna Fáil party than the likes of Micheál Martin," Mr Thomas said.
Barry Andrews, Fianna Fáil MEP for Dublin, said that comments about migrants made by Cllr Noel Thomas were very disappointing and the language used was untypical of a member of the party.
Speaking on RTÉ's Today with Claire Byrne, Mr Andrews said there should be a clear distance between the Fianna Fáil position on these issues and the opinions expressed by Mr Thomas.
"This isn't what Fianna Fáil stands for. We are doing our level best; communities across the country schools, GAA clubs. They're doing their level best to try to accommodate new people without creating this division, without this rhetoric, without feeding into a far-right narrative," Mr Andrews said.
'Huge, huge error'
The Sinn Féin leader, Mary Lou McDonald, claimed that the Government has made "a huge, huge error" in how it has handled the situation around asylum seekers.
"I understand fully that Government made a mistake from the get-go in not having proper consultation and communication with communities," she told RTÉ's Morning Ireland.
"By that, I mean not simply dropping a leaflet or last-minute briefings of public reps but going into communities and talking to people in community development and youth work, sporting organisations.
"All of the good people all across our communities who know their communities inside and out, who are constructive, decent people and for whom the inn is not full, and who would wish to be positive and reasonable and rational, and indeed very, very welcoming," Ms McDonald said.
