Security has been stepped up at the asylum-seekers' centre in Athlone following a protest by local Travellers who occupied two of the new mobile homes, claiming they were not being given equal treatment by the authorities.
Some 100 new mobile homes have been placed on a site at Blackberry Lane, on the outskirts of Athlone, to cater for asylum-seekers. It adjoins a site where 27 Travelling families have been living for years.
However, on Tuesday a large number of Travellers, mainly women and children, entered the site and locked themselves in two of the mobile homes.
A Garda spokesman said they had been called to the site and had spoken to the group which had occupied two mobile homes. He said that following a discussion with the group the protest ended and the group left the site peacefully. When it was learned that the site was to be used for asylum-seekers, the Travellers and locals objected to the density of the site, the lack of access to it and the lack of consultation with them.
The Travellers, who had stressed they had no problem with asylum-seekers, said they wanted to be treated properly.
A spokeswoman for the group said they had carried out the protest because they were told by people on the site that they would be getting 10 mobile homes.
Community workers yesterday met the Travellers to discuss the situation.