Councillor Noel Thomas resigns from Fianna Fáil, saying party has ‘become very detached from ordinary people’

Mr Thomas said the main political parties have become “very detached from the ordinary people”.

Speaking to RTÉ News at One, Mr Thomas acknowledged that the issues surrounding the disciplinary action he faced as a result of his criticism of plans for asylum seeker accommodation in Oughterard last year was “partly” responsible for his decision.

The Lake House Hotel was the site of protests and an arson attack in December.

"As far as I’m concerned I think the main political parties Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, Sinn Féin included and the Green Party seem to have become very detached from the ordinary person as far as I’m concerned and I suppose that’s been eating away at me for some time,” Mr Thomas said.

"I suppose I was holding on all the time in the hope that some members of the Dáil would actually kick back against the leadership that was there and maybe try and get things to change but anyway, that never happened.”

In relation to the events outside the Lake House Hotel last December, he said: “Nobody from Fianna Fáil had the respect or anything to get in touch with me to inform me that any disciplinary procedures have been taken against me.”

He said he learned “on the airwaves” before he was informed by email about the disciplinary procedures.

Today's News in 90 Seconds - March 25th

Mr Thomas said he was asked “straight” questions about whether he condemned the burning of the building and whether he was present at the blockade.

He said he had condemned the fire repeatedly and asked for clarification on what “controversy” his comments caused.

"If somebody is going to investigate me for any reason at all, then they should be able to explain to me what they’re investigating me for.”

Mr Thomas said he does not regret the comments he made at the time and said he was relaying the concerns of the constituents that came to him.

"When it came to this quote, this famous quote about ‘the inn being full’ like it was just completely taken out of context as being some kind of racist remark or whatever but in actual fact, what we had done, we had filled all the accommodation in our country by reckless open border policies.”

It was put to Mr Thomas that the idea the country has an ‘open border’ policy would be contested by many in Government and in the opposition.

Host Bryan Dobson said there was a shortage of accommodation “because locations like the hotel in Oughterard are set on fire and if they’re not that they’re blockaded and there is local resistance to receiving people in their communities”.

Mr Thomas said he “completely” disagreed, adding that it is his opinion that existing accommodation has been “flooded” by people who “may not be requiring” it.

Speaking to the News at One, Mr Thomas denied that he was feeding into fears and said “people who need our help, we need to help them”.

“We need to be handling this in a responsible manner. Government need to step in here and do it properly so that we don’t find ourselves in a situation where we’ve got people left sleeping on our streets.”