The Government has been warned positive attitudes towards asylum seekers and Ukrainian refugees could change with potentially racist tensions. An expert group has recommended emergency powers be used to build six reception centres on State-owned land by the end of next year, according to the Irish Times.
The report says there appears to be reluctance among departments to see if current issues around asylum seekers and refugees is mainly one of housing. Aontu leader and Meath West TD, Peadar Toibin believes the Government needs to ensure communities are consulted to avoid some protests from being racially motivated.
"I have no doubt in the edges of what's happening in certain places across the country, there are racist organisations that are looking to make political capital out of this. What I am saying is that if we don't have a grown up, mature adult conversations about what is happening in our own communities, then we are leaving the debate to those people," Deputy Tobin added.
