Gardai in Wexford are expecting the influx of Romanian asylum-seekers to continue, with new comers arriving possibly as early as today.
The arrival of 45 Romanians in Rosslare Harbour at the weekend took to about 250 the number who have arrived in Wexford in recent weeks. Local immigration officers believed it was "quite likely" that another group would arrive on a sailing early this morning.
The 45 refugees who were discovered in containers at Rosslare Harbour on Saturday afternoon were last night being accommodated at hostels in Bunclody and at the parish hall in Rathangan. They are among around 200 Romanians in bed-and-breakfasts and hostels in Wexford.
Government sources have expressed concern at the "frequency and apparent ease with which undocumented foreign nationals appear to be able to board boats for Ireland". Officials are likely to consider the issue this week, according to the sources.
The refugees arrived on the European Pathfinder at about 4.30 p.m. on Saturday. It is believed that 33 of them are gypsies from eight families. The remainder are not thought to be from the gypsy community.
They concealed themselves in containers inside a number of trucks during the 16-hour journey from France.
Six illegal Romanian immigrants were involved in a scuffle with gardai after disembarking from the ferry at Dun Laoghaire last night. As about 450 passengers got off the ferry, the six were put to one side to have their documentation examined. They were in their 20s and identified as illegal immigrants.
A Garda spokesman said: "They became very boisterous and rushed the gardai on duty; a female garda was assaulted and they managed to escape. The garda was not badly injured. They managed to use the confusion of the big crowd to make their get-away. A search is going on for them."