A Nigerian mother of three who first came to Ballinamore as an asylum seeker has given her “wholehearted support” to the protest against a refugee centre.

Adeola Talabi, her husband and two young sons first arrived to the Co Leitrim town in 2006.

“I and my family are very much part of this town and we stayed here because the people of Ballinamore are very welcoming, accommodating and very, very supportive.

“I have never encountered any type of racism or xenophobia, they are beautiful people,” Ms Talabi told the Irish Independent last night.

Now the town is at the centre of controversy amid local concerns an apartment block will become a “glorified prison” for 130 asylum seekers.

Ms Talabi said she had joined the protest committee because such a large group of people were going to be housed without proper infrastructure in the town, which has a population of around 900.

“The local people are entitled to know what extra provision has been made by the Government, for example, to educate the children and care for their health needs,” Ms Talabi said.

“Has provision been made to help teach English to these poor people if they are from a country like Syria so that they can communicate, and what services will be there if there are traumatised children and adults in the group who require counselling services?

“This is a huge number of people for a small place like Ballinamore.

“When we came here first to the direct provision centre, there were 48 of us and it was still difficult for us even though the people were welcoming – how can they cope with 130 people, and how will those people cope?”

Organisers of the protest said the decision to place the picket on the apartments was taken after a community “crisis” meeting in the town on Sunday night, which was attended by more than 450 local people.

A statement issued yesterday expressed “grave concern and complete opposition” to the plan because it s “completely disproportionate to the needs of both the asylum seekers and the community at large”.

The local community accused the Government of treating the refugees and asylum seekers as a “commodity” as part of a “failed” policy which favours only “the maximum bang for the buck for developers and investors”.

A spokesperson for the Community Council – a strictly non-political organisation – called on the Department of Justice to immediately halt the re-housing programme and “listen to the people of Ireland” to re-evaluate its policies.

Meanwhile, local businessman Adrian Smith told the Irish Independent that the protest campaign would not be hijacked by racists.

“Any accusations that this protest is motivated by racism or xenophobia is completely untrue and probably being pushed by certain groups just to demonise the people of this town,” he said.

“It is entirely disproportionate to expect us to absorb a sudden increase of 15pc in the local town’s population and we are particularly concerned at the effect this will have on these unfortunate people who have fled famine, war a persecution and also our own community.”

The Department of Justice is planning to open two new accommodation centres in Ballinamore and in Borrisokane, Co Tipperary. It said meetings would be held with locals, councillors and TDs to address concerns.

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