Five Nigerian women and their seven children returned to their hostel in Foynes, Co Limerick, yesterday evening, after failing in their attempt to find alternative accommodation.
The women had written to the Asylum Applications Office a number of times to complain about their accommodation, which they said was cramped and unsuitable for small children.
The women arrived at the Asylum Applications Office in Dublin on Wednesday to seek alternative accommodation. They were given accommodation in south Dublin on Wednesday night but told to return to Limerick after that.
They spent all day Thursday outside the Asylum Applications Office on Mount Street in Dublin but were refused accommodation that night. The women said they were not allowed into the office to sit down or to allow their children to rest.
When it appeared that they might have to sleep on the street, members of the Residents Against Racism group took the women to the Bridewell Garda station and they were provided with tea and sandwiches.
At about 10pm, emergency accommodation was found for them in asylum seeker hostels in Killiney, Morehampton Road, Francis Street and Camden Street.
Yesterday the women returned to the Asylum Applications Office and were again told to return home. "It's just terrible the way these mothers were treated," said Rosanna Flynn of Residents Against Racism.
