Rosscahill is a small rural community on the outskirts of Connemara with a population of around 300 people.
Some of the residents are Chinese, Indian, and Malaysian who have married into the community and have been living happily there for many years.
The recent fire incident at Ross Lake Hotel, which was supposed to accommodate 70 asylum seekers, has left many of them deeply saddened.
One of the residents, Professor Afshin Samali, has been living in Rosscahill for 14 years with his Irish wife Adrienne and two adult children, Dara and Maeve.
He came to Ireland 38 years ago after fleeing persecution in Iran.
He now works as a cancer biology scientist at the University of Galway.
He had his education in Sligo and later went on to study medicine.
He said: “I’m shocked to see this can happen in my neighbourhood, all my neighbours are shocked and surprised by the turn of events here. I have never experiences racism myself, but I have heard from my students who have experiences racism in the city and elsewhere in the country. The fact that I haven’t experienced it here in Rosscahill, in the area I have lived for the last 14 years, I’ve seen only kindness, hospitality, and generosity from the people,” reports RTE.
“It is some elements coming from the outside of the community, and it is shocking to us in the neighbourhood, in the community to see this can happen on our back steps. There is a lot of fear mongering, I have seen messages being forwarded into WhatsApp groups that I’m in from outside and it creates concerns amongst friends and neighbours,” he added, reports RTE.
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