“But I also need to be very clear: no one in a free society, no one in a democracy, has a veto over who moves into their area or their community. There is no right to exercise it.”
Leo Varadkar’s comments follow a series of recent protests at buildings used to house asylum seekers across Ireland.
Arson attacks also occurred at several buildings proposed to house international protection applicants.
A protest was held outside a hotel in Ballinrobe, Co Mayo on Friday over plans to use the premises to house 50 adult male asylum seekers.
A former pub on Thorncastle Street in the Ringsend area of Dublin. It was set on fire on New Year’s Eve after false rumors spread that it would be used as accommodation for asylum seekers (Brian Lawless/Pennsylvania)
Asked about the Ballinrobe scene, Mr Varadkar told RTE:
“It is important to ensure information and communication, allay people’s fears and ensure they are provided with the information they need.
“But I also need to be very clear: no one in a free society, no one in a democracy, has a veto over who moves into their area or community. There is no right to exercise.
“And it doesn’t just apply to international protection. It applies to traveler accommodation, it applies to women’s shelters, which people previously objected to, it applies to social housing and student accommodation. It also applies.”
One of Mr Varadkar’s Fine Gael MPs, Michael Burke, criticized the proposal to use hotels for international protection applicants.
The Taoiseach said his colleague’s position was not consistent with Government policy.
Asked whether party discipline would be called into question, Mr Varadkar said Fine Gael had “a fair amount of control over how it deals with local issues, as long as MPs do not make misinformation or racist comments”. He said he could not believe such a thing. Such was the case with Ballinrobe.
Regarding the recent arson attacks, Mr Varadkar expressed concern that someone could be killed if the fires continued.
“No matter what political beliefs people have, arson is a very serious crime and people have the right to have their political beliefs and no one should damage or burn down someone else’s property. “There is no right, no one has the right to physically harm another person,” he said.
“So this is a serious crime and I hope they will be arrested and prosecuted. And I want to express my concern that people who vandalize buildings and set fires are You can’t know for sure that people aren’t there.”
He added: “And I’m really concerned that we’re not only facing a situation where we’re investigating arson, but we may also be investigating manslaughter and murder.”
Regarding the general debate on immigration and asylum seekers in Ireland, Mr Varadkar said the Government faced the challenge of leading this dialogue over the coming year.
“There are a lot of myths that were initially propagated by the far right, but unfortunately have now become so mainstream that mainstream politicians and even mainstream journalists are now repeating them,” he said.
“And I think we have a big job to do this year as a government in taking charge of this debate and making sure people have the right information.
“Because one of the really important things to say is that immigration and emigration to Ireland has been a good thing overall.”