Concerns have been raised in a town in Co Westmeath after 75 asylum seekers were moved to a hotel, with locals saying there was no consultation about the move.
The asylum seekers say they were abruptly moved from Dublin to Harry's of Kinnegad over a week ago.
The well-known hotel off the N4 has 45 bedrooms, and is located on Main Street.
"We came here to make a better life" explained one of the asylum seekers, who said he had come to Ireland from Somalia.
"Most of us have children and families, most of us are married. We just want to have a better life for ourselves, but this isn't a better life" he added.
"It's not our choice to be here. We don’t want to be here. We are forced to be here"
The asylum seekers say they have received no support or help from the Government to facilitate their integration.
"We have had no one to visit us. We have no access to doctors. I suffer from IBS and I haven’t had any medication for two weeks now, it’s terrible" he said.
The men say they have subjected to false allegations on social media.
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"We see families running away from us with their kids. We are not aliens. We are human beings," he added.
"It’s not our choice to be here. We don’t want to be here. We are forced to be here," he said.
Another man said he had travelled to Ireland from Ethiopia.
"I lost both my parents and my brother in the Tigray war. I came to Ireland because this country has been very vocal about the ethnic cleansing of my people," he said.
"There is no other place I could go to that would understand my story more than Ireland, but what I found in Kinnegad is nothing like I expected it to be," he said.
Local resident Saoirse Malone said the people of Kinnegad are not racist, however they do feel let down by the lack of consultation about this move.
"We have no amenities for these people. There are no bus routes, there are no medical services, we have no library, we have no community hall. We don’t have amenities for people already living here," she explained.
The Department of Equality, Children, Disability, Integration and Youth said today that since the lifting of international Covid-19 travel restrictions, there has been a significant increase of new arrivals to Ireland seeking international protection.
In a statement, it said that "from the beginning of 2022, around 7,000 people have come to Ireland seeking protection and this is in addition to the arrival of Ukrainians who need assistance as a result of the Ukraine crisis".
The Department said that due to the unprecedented demand, accommodation all around the country has been utilised to help house applicants on an emergency basis.
It said Harry’s of Kinnegad, has recently come into use for the International Protection Accommodation Service (IPAS) to provide such emergency accommodation.
It said the hotel will host approximately 150 international protection applicants. IPAS officials are working closely with all temporary emergency accommodation providers in terms of the services that will be needed for international protection applicants.
However, local councillor Denis Leonard believes consultation should have happened before now.
"Westmeath County Council or the Kinnegad community knew about this decision so while we welcome people into this community of any nationality over many many years, the way that 75 asylum seekers were moved here over a weekend, just wasn’t done in the proper way," he said.
