A member of a group called 'The concerned people of Cahersiveen and the wider south Kerry community' says the local community will be devastated if the decision to move 80 Ukrainians from the town is implemented.
A "pause" has been put on plans to move Ukrainians from their lodgings in the town to make way for international protection applicants.
There are around 200 Ukrainian refugees under a temporary protection order at the Skellig Accommodation Centre, which includes hotel and self catering apartments for family units and singles in the south Kerry town.
Just under half the Ukrainian residents were informed on Friday they were to be moved out amid what the Department of Children, Equality, Youth and Integration said was "a severe" shortage of accommodation for international protection applicants also known as asylum seekers.
Stephanie Mahey said the decision is wrong on so many levels, adding that it will damage the backbone of the area's workforce and emotionally devastate everybody.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, Ms Mahey said it was not just 220 Ukrainians living in the hotel, but rather "our friends, they're our community".
"They're the local hairdresser, the people working behind the till in the shop. Our kids are their classmates. We go to each other's birthday parties. They're on the same GAA teams. So some of them I'll tell you now are going to be great GAA players."
Ms Mahey also spoke of Vitaly who is opening a coffee shop in Cahersiveen and will be providing employment in the town.
She said that no reason has been given for the decision and she cannot see how it would make sense to force people to start again.
"It seems like the decision was made somewhere at a desk. Made quickly, without maybe taking into consideration all the factors," she said.
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Services were stretched to capacity when the Ukrainian population arrived but "we made it work", she said.
Ms Mahey added that a community party was being planned for the June bank holiday weekend, adding that local TDs, including Minister for Education Norma Foley, have been very helpful.
She urged officials to talk to the local community and see if a resolution can be found.
Speaking on the same programme, a Ukrainian resident in Cahersiveen said she was told on Friday that she and her family were to move from the town but they "100%" want to stay.
The announcement was a surprise, Liliia Orevchuk, said, because her two children are settled in their school.
Ms Orevchuk is also completing an educational course at the O'Connell centre in the town.
She said that she, her mother, husband and children are starting to build their new lives in Cahersiveen and do not want to move.
"We are starting to integrate in the community," she said. "People want us to be here and we want to be here."
Another Ukrainian woman living in Cahersiveen says those living in Skellig Accomodation Centre cannot feel relieved that the decision to move them from their current lodgings has been paused, because they do not know what is going to happen.
Olga said many people are sitting on their packed boxes "not knowing what is going to happen next".
Speaking on RTÉ's Today with Claire Byrne, she said children returned to school but do not know if they need to say thank you and goodbye to their teachers and classmates or if they will see them again tomorrow.
"They're not going today but no one know what is going to happen tomorrow," she added.
Olga said that parents with children particularly want to stay in the town so their children can continue to go to school.
She said the Ukrainian population are part of the local community and it is hard for them and the Irish community who reached out to make them welcome and help them integrate.
Moving people away who do not want to go is a waste of all these efforts, she said.
