Gardaí: No increase in crime near refugees

GARDAÍ have said there has been no noticeable increase in the levels of crime and public order incidents in areas where there are refugee centres.

In a statement following the unrest outside the centre in Roscrea, Co. Tipperary, on Monday, gardaí also said they did not use any force during the demonstration, in which one person was arrested.

Gardaí had been accused of a heavyhanded response to the protests, following clashes with protesters outside the Racket Hall Hotel in Roscrea while asylum seekers were being taken into the premises.

Social media footage showed 17 women and children being jeered and heckled by a large group of people as they were guided into the property under cordon.

The building is set to provide accommodation for around 160 applicants as the State scrambles to house refugees.

Following a series of similar protests and arson attacks on properties believed to be earmarked for refugees, gardaí have now moved to dispel the notion asylum centres are linked with an increase in crime.

A Garda spokeswoman said: ‘Notwithstanding isolated local incidents, An Garda Síochána has not recorded any significant increase in criminal activity or public order issues directly caused by international protection applicants at any location where international protection applicants are being accommodated at this time.’

Regarding the protest on Monday itself, local Roscrea councillor Shane Lee had accused members of the Garda Public

Order Unit as being ‘very heavy-handed’ as the demonstration got heated.

However, in a statement last night, An Garda Síochána hit back and said it did not use any force during the proceedings.

It also outright denied that any pepper spray was used, something which was widely claimed on social media.

The Garda operation targeting these sorts of demonstrations has changed in recent weeks, sources have told the Irish Daily Mail. A more ‘proactive’ approach is being taken whereby decisions are made based on intelligence from specialist units, which have been investigating farright organisers.

Their evidence is then passed down to local Garda management, who decide what appropriate response is required.

Gardaí also criticised the sharing of misinformation and rumour which they say is circulating in Irish society.

The spokeswoman added: ‘It is not just the responsibility of An Garda Síochána to challenge this misinformation circulating in society, but also the responsibility of mainstream civic society and media.’

Meanwhile, Minister for Integration Roderic O’Gorman said child asylum seekers were ‘upset’ by the scenes on Monday.

The Green TD said: ‘My understanding is, from talking to my officials, that they’re settling in but it was a difficult enough experience, children were upset.’

Taking a more ‘proactive’ approach