Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has expressed his disapproval of the recent attempts to prevent asylum seekers from entering accommodation centres in Tipperary.
He has called these attempts “anti-democratic” and “anti-freedom”.
The Racket Hotel in Roscrea, Co Tipperary, has been the centre of protests since last Thursday, with demonstrators opposing the use of the hotel to house up to 160 asylum seekers.
On Monday, scuffles broke out between protesters and Gardaí while 17 asylum seekers, mostly women and children, were being moved into the hotel, reports The Mirror.
One man was arrested, and videos of Gardaí linking arms to allow the asylum seekers to pass through the protesters have been circulating on social media.
The Taoiseach expressed his disappointment while on his way to the Cabinet meeting on Tuesday.
He said: “Ireland is a republic, we’re a democracy, we’re a free country. In a Republic, in a democracy and a free country, people have the right to protest. They have the right to hold views that other people may find objectionable,” reports The Mirror.
“However, nobody has the right to engage in violence against other individuals, to damage property or to prevent people getting to their home or getting to their work. “That’s anti-democratic. That’s anti-freedom. That’s against the spirit and the values of our nation. So [I] really want to say that about what we saw [on Monday in Roscrea],” he added, reports The Mirror.
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