BALE OUT

Asylum seekers leave after entrance blocked by silage and tractor Refugees flee Clare |Group speaks about concerns as locals protest at their arrival | Residents say they are far from racist' but have concerns

-  CILLIAN SHERLOCK , GORDON DEEGAN

A GROUP of asylum seekers packed their bags and began a 210km trek on foot back to Dublin following angry protests outside their accommodation.

The men bailed out of the Magowna House Hotel in Inch, Co Clare, after protesters blocked the entrance to the property with tractors and a silage bale.

One local woman said: "These people have been landed into a community where they know no one and we don't know them."

ASYLUM seekers have left the site of accommodation provided for them after locals blocked routes to the properties yesterday. 

A group of 34 people had been brought to three holiday homes on the site of the disused Magowna House Hotel in Inch, Co Clare, on Monday.

Shortly after their arrival, access roads were blocked by protesters using tractors, with another gate blocked by a silage bale.

Yesterday morning, around a dozen people remained on the blockade, with the tractors swapped for other vehicles in the afternoon.

A small group of locals carrying signs saying “refugees welcome” had gathered across from the demonstration by yesterday afternoon.

Some of the asylum seekers in the hotel expressed fear and gathered their belongings to begin the 90-minute walk to Ennis.

Integration Minister Roderic O’Gorman will hold a virtual meeting this morning with politicians and public representatives of the town.

One of the tractor drivers, who did not want to provide his name, said locals had concerns about fire safety and sewage management on the site.

He also said the asylum seekers were being moved “underhandedly”.

After locals had heard a further 35 people were to be accommodated at the site, he added: “So we stopped the roads, we blocked the roads so a second bus could not get in.”