Mayo councillors vote to withdraw cooperation from department over asylum-seeker strategy 

About 6,000 asylum seekers have been housed in the county, which has a population of 137,000. Councillors have argued the refugee population makes up 3.84% of people in Mayo, as opposed to 1.53% in Dublin

An anti-immigration protest was held in Ballinrobe Co Mayo earlier this month. Picture: Conor McKeown

Councillors on Mayo County Council have voted unanimously to pass a motion instructing its chief executive to withdraw cooperation with the Department of Equality.

The motion, which was brought by independent councillor Michael Kilcoyne, calls for all cooperation to be withdrawn "until such time as an agreed strategy is put in place to properly co-ordinate the provision of additional services for the communities hosting refugees and international protection applicants".