'We don't have any issue here.. we feel safe. I want to live and work in Ireland'

Refugees are happy despite the protesters; Cllr says centre not suitable for 29 people

- PAUL HEALY

ASYLUM seekers living in a hotel insisted they feel safe and happy yesterday despite a blockade outside their door.

Protesters continued to block the road to the Magowna Hotel in Inch, Co Clare, after Minister for Integration Roderic O'Gorman vowed not to close the accommodation.

Fine Gael Councillor Mary Howard, who was at the blockade, insisted the protest is "not racist".

She claimed it was motivated out of concern for the 29 remaining asylum seekers because there are no amenities in the area.

Cllr Howard added: "I just think it's the inappropriate place. It is absolutely not racism. People have this thing that we're barricaded up here. We're not, anybody can get in. We're just protecting our neighbourhood. That's all that they're doing."

And after a meeting with TDs and Senators in the morning, Mr O'Gorman said he would be open to talking with protesters but said he could not move the asylum seekers.

Around 20 people stood outside the hotel and at each end of the small road yesterday blocking access with traffic cones.

None of the protesters was willing to explain why they were there. However, after a meeting in the Intreo Centre in Ennis, a busload of asylum seekers returned to the hotel watched on by the protesters. The men aboard told how they were here to start new lives - and insisted they were not fazed by the blockade. Sultan Muhammad Nasiri, from Afghanistan, said he felt welcome in the community by most people.

He added: "I am happy and we who are living here, most are happy here because everything is good.