On a cold January afternoon in Roscrea, a market town of around 5,500 people in rural Ireland, news began to spread that the town’s only remaining hotel would close temporarily — to provide housing for 160 asylum seekers.
Almost immediately, speculation and anger began to swirl online.
Posts to a local Facebook group blamed the closure on the government and on “non-nationals” moving in.
That night, dozens of people showed up for an improvised protest that has divided the town and become a monthslong symbol of growing anti-immigration sentiment across Ireland.
A small group of locals have kept a constant presence in the hotel parking lot since then, using a tent as protection from the rain and a metal drum as a firepit.
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Roscrea, Ireland