In some areas where protests against asylum seekers have taken place, no amount of consultation would have made a difference, Equality Minister Roderic O’Gorman said.
In recent weeks, protests have taken place in Waterford, Cork and in areas of Dublin hosting refugees or asylum seekers.
Gardai is also investigating an alleged attack on a campsite in Ashtown, Dublin, where migrants have been living for months, and an alleged arson attack on a disused Dublin school said to have been used for migrants.
Concerns raised by locals include a failure to consult on dozens of migrants who have moved into their community, as well as a lack of services to cater for a larger population.
Politicians have argued that the authorities’ lack of engagement has, in some cases, left a vacuum in which disinformation and false rumors thrive.
Mr. O’Gorman said the department was under so much pressure to accommodate people that he was forced to “move rapidly”.
He told RTÉ radio: ‘We’ll look to increase our department’s ability to provide information when we’re opening new international protection accommodation, but I think it’s also important to say in some of the examples that we’ve seen in recent weeks… it’s clear that no level of consultation, no level of engagement, would have changed the outcomes. We’ve seen a building set on fire as a result of a rumour, an untrue rumour. We’ve seen migrants attacked again as a result of an untrue, online rumour,” reports BreakingNews.
On Tuesday, People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy said he believed Ireland was in “a very dangerous situation”” with regards to the far right and the proliferation of “vvery racist, divisive, hateful ideas”.
He warned: “I think we are on a trajectory for someone being very seriously injured or killed. Obviously there is a lot of attention about the threats to politicians and so on, and that’s appropriate. But the truth is, the most likely person to get seriously hurt or injured or killed is going to be a migrant. That is the trajectory of things,” reports BreakingNews.
An anti-racism demonstration will take place in Parnell Square, Dublin on Saturday 18 February at 1.30pm, echoing the message of several community demonstrations in support of migrant residents under the slogan ‘Ireland for All’.
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