Kenmare, Co Kerry, is a planned town, one of Ireland's first. More than three centuries of living in a town planned from the ground up has paid dividends. Kenmare (population 1,420) was Kerry's first heritage town. It is "an exemplar of cultured tourism", to quote John McKenna in the Bridgestone Guide.

Unlike, say, higgledy-piggledy Killarney, just as dependent on tourism but an "Oirish travesty", according to the guide. Kenmare, in contrast, "has a clear focus".

Last week, though, the announcement that 60 asylum-seekers were to arrive in this town of careful planning threw locals into a state of near paroxysm.

At a well-attended public meeting organised by the Directorate of Asylum Support Services attached to the Department of Justice the clear focus of anger was the Department's lack of notice. One week on, that lack of consultation still smarts.

"We need to shoulder our responsibility to the wider world population as individuals and a community," says Mr Paudie Moriarty, a local man active in the community.

"But we must get proper numbers and these must be properly located, spread throughout the community, not all in one place," he says.

One of the Kenmare's four GPs, Dr Rory O'Driscoll, is adamant: "We should be informed, We should be educated, We should be told."

The last-minute attitude of the Department of Justice is, Dr O' Driscoll, says, "anything but democratic".

"There isn't a problem in managing the health of these people, we simply need to be told. I wouldn't worry about inoculations and that sort of thing. That only instils fear," he says.

Natural fear of the unknown is the real problem. That's why information is so vital, Dr O'Driscoll says.

The principal of the local boys' school, Mr Donal Sleator, was last week faced with a possible 15 extra students in his school of 160; this week, however, it appears only two are to start.

The asylum-seekers are housed in Atlantic Lodge Hostel, the town's newest luxury hostel. The hostel's manager, Ms Sheila O'Sullivan, does not allow interviews by the press, for reasons she does not wish to go into.

A group of 15 asylum-seekers arrived first. Some of them were afraid to get off the bus because they did not know where they were being brought and had to be reassured by gardai.

The curious in cars formed queues that first day or two. Atlantic Lodge is situated near the presbytery and schools on a popular ring-road walk, known as "the two-mile bridge" walk.

There were rumours that sites next to the hostel were being measured up for prefabs, rumours that had to be quashed by the parish priest.

At the meeting it was stated: "If there are 60 black people in this town next Wednesday, no tourist bus will stop here."

But two welcome cards and a bowl of Easter eggs arrived. Tricycles and lots of books for the children followed. On Easter Monday people came to take families for a drive around Kenmare.

One week later and few townspeople have actually seen any asylum-seekers. "I thought I saw three earlier. Were those asylum-seekers who passed?" the owner of the Craft Shop on Main Street asked.

Some of the asylum-seekers went to church on Good Friday, he had heard. "I wouldn't like to see them marginalised. I hope they don't feel that way. It would be terrible," said Con Guerin, of the LeathPhingin restaurant.

On their way out from Atlantic Lodge on an evening stroll, Algerians Dekhli Tahar and Hadfi Maler write their names in my notebook. With them is Afrim Dusha from Albania.

The Algerians speak only French. Afrim cannot speak French or English. The three young men are friendly and seem happy on one of their first strolls in "downtown Kenmare". They would have liked to remain in a city, says Dekhli, who is a pharmacist.

Father Michael Murphy is parish priest. His younger brother is the Bishop of Kerry, Dr Bill Murphy. The Murphys are from a farming background east of Killarney. Father Michael has had a lifetime interest in gardening and in winning Tidy Towns competitions, first in Sneem, Co Kerry, and now, hopefully, in Kenmare. His hobbies are proving useful. Each day the Latvians help Father Murphy in the tunnels next to the fine old presbytery, planting cuttings for the Tidy Towns competition. "They have nothing to do you see. And they can't get paid. The Latvian couple are interested in gardening. We work in the earth together." They have been joined by a man from the Congo. "We use Latin and the botanical names for plants. That's how we communicate," he says.

Already the Latvians know the words for shovel and spade. Latvia must be like Ireland, Father Murphy says, "peaty soils". The camellias are out at the moment and they seem to know a lot about those, Father Murphy says. "But they put water around the plants in a circle. And they dig down deeper than we would here."

People in Kenmare who started off negatively, ended up positively, he notes about the public meeting.

Father Murphy has great regard for Ms O'Sullivan. Speakers at the meeting were critical of the owners for accepting asylum-seekers. A lot of flak was taken.

"She's a strong person. She's a trained nurse. She will cope," he says.