Irish leader condemns fire at hotel preparing to accommodate asylum seekers
Ireland’s leader has condemned a suspected arson after a hotel intended to house asylum seekers was burned to the ground on Saturday, the latest incident to expose anti-immigrant sentiment in the country.
The fire broke out at the Ross Lake House Hotel before midnight in Rosscahill, County Galway, in the west of Ireland, destroying the building. From this week, a maximum of seventy asylum seekers would be housed. No injuries have been reported.
The fire comes just weeks after violence sparked by a knife attack in Dublin on November 23 turned into a xenophobic riot, and as the country grapples with fringe right-wing violence and xenophobia increasingly coming to light.
Leo Varadkar, the country’s prime minister, the Irish prime minister, said in a written statement on Sunday that he was concerned about a number of recent reports of damage, including Saturday’s fire, to places intended to house asylum seekers across the country. house. It was unclear how the fire started and investigations into the circumstances were continuing, a police statement said, describing the blaze as “an incident of criminal damage by fire.”
“There is no justification for violence, arson or vandalism in our Republic. Ever,” Mr Varadkar said. He made clear that Ireland, like much of the rest of the world, was “experiencing a major step change in the numbers arriving here seeking protection.”
“This is caused by war, poverty, climate change and human rights abuses in their home countries,” Mr Varadkar said.
He also added details that appeared aimed at addressing concerns about the vetting of asylum seekers, which has been a rallying cry from some who oppose the placement of this type of accommodation in their communities.
“I want to reassure people that we have a rules-based system and are processing applications in record time,” he said. “All asylum seekers are registered, fingerprinted, checked against watch lists and the circumstances surrounding their asylum application are thoroughly investigated. We strive to treat them with dignity and respect as their applications are considered.”
Ireland, like much of Europe, has received an influx of newcomers in recent years as war, climate change and economic instability have driven global migration, sometimes leaving countries struggling to adapt. In the year ending last April, net migration to Ireland, which had a population of 5.2 million, was 77,600, second only to a 2007 net immigration record for the country of 104,800.
Although asylum seekers make up a relatively small proportion of total arrivals, with fewer than 14,000 people claiming asylum in Ireland in 2022, they have often been the focus of vitriol and anti-immigration sentiment. Ireland’s Direct Provision Program provides accommodation for people awaiting a decision on their asylum claim.
Ireland has also hosted more than 100,000 Ukrainians who have fled conflict in their home country since Russia’s large-scale invasion in early 2022. While asylum seekers and others seeking international protection have been successfully housed in communities across Ireland, and the vast majority are on benefits received a warm welcome, there are places of dissatisfaction.
Experts who track the far right say extremism has spread on social media in recent years, as it has in the United States and much of Europe, and that language portraying migrants in Ireland as a threat is making its way into the mainstream has found.
Phrases popularized online by far-right influencers characterizing migrants as “unvetted” and “military-age men” are also increasingly being repeated by members of the public looking for a place to express their dissatisfaction, say the experts.
Saturday’s fire is not the first time a facility in Ireland has been targeted by asylum seekers.
In 2018, groups of people went out fire aimed at hotels that want to house asylum seekersand in the years since, xenophobic demonstrations have been held in small towns and villages across the country. Earlier this year there was a makeshift camp for refugees set on fire in Dublin.
“The people who carry out these crimes are a very small minority,” Mr Varadkar stressed in his statement, adding that most people “empathise with those fleeing truly terrible conditions and recognize the benefits that legal migration in general brings to Ireland entails.”
“I hope that as we get through the winter, we can continue to treat those who arrive here with the basic dignity and decency that we would want for ourselves,” he said.
A day before the fire, a protest was held outside the Ross Lake House, with some people blocking the entrance to the hotel. People could be seen inside news images stay warm by lighting a fire in metal barrels. Among them were some local politicians.
“People are afraid of what awaits them,” Séamus Walsh, a local councilor at the protest, told national broadcaster RTÉ on Friday. “This is a beautiful area, the locals from the area use it as a walking facility through the forest and so on. They are afraid of what they will encounter in the future with all kinds of strangers in the area whom they do not know.”
The hotel had not been in use for more than a year and residents of the area were recently told that the hotel would be used to house asylum seekers as part of a government contract.
Politicians and human rights groups have denounced the rhetoric they say is fueling local discontent.
“Politicians across the board must condemn this shameful act and the fear-mongering that led to it,” said Irish Integration Minister Roderic O’Gorman. said in a statement on social media platform X hours after the fire.