Those objecting to asylum seeker accommodation will often claim not to be racist but to be expressing legitimate concerns about the background of the impending new arrivals, the strain they will place on local services and the impact they will have on the character of their adopted town.

When violence raises its head in society it dwarfs all else and requires a response that simply cannot be left open to be interpreted as equivocation, writes Michael Clifford.

Emergency services in Leitrim are dealing with a fire at a building that has been earmarked for asylum seeker accommodation.