Gardai are investigating "threats" to set a direct provision centre in Co Wicklow on fire.
Nearly 300 asylum seekers, 191 of whom are single men, are currently residing at the former Grand Hotel in Wicklow Town. Two men allegedly walked into the centre and threatened to burn it to the ground on Sunday, November 13.
Hotel owner Adrian Shannagher said he has received a number of threats made via emails and phone calls. He told Newstalk: "People call to my family home, you know? We’ve had all of that stuff.
Read more: Hundreds gather in East Wall to protest housing of asylum seekers
"Calls in the middle of the night from private numbers. We’ve had two instances of individuals walking into the premises threatening to burn the place down." A garda spokesman confirmed officers are investigating the incident.
A number of families who lived at the direct provision centre were moved to other parts of the country to allow mostly single men to move in. This has prompted backlash from a number of locals.
Fianna Fail councillor Gail Dunne said people were "angry" because there was no consultation before the decision was made. He said: "Grand hotel was a facility for families and, over the last couple of months, that has changed to basically single people
"People can go and make their observations felt - I don’t like the idea of threats or whatever - we should try and see can we sort this problem out. I have no time for that." In other news, a protest is planned in East Wall in Dublin by locals who said they were not consulted before male asylum seekers were accommodated in the old ESB building.
On Saturday, up to 300 local residents stopped traffic as part of the protest.
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