I live outside a beautiful little village called Termonfeckin. It is a small, peaceful place about a mile beside the sea and blessed with a golden sandy beach which runs four miles along the County Louth coastline.

A few weeks ago all hell broke loose. Over 40 young men, all refugees and would-be immigrants were moved into a former restaurant , the Triple House in the middle of the village.

The men came from Syria, Afghanistan, Algeria, Albania and Georgia to start a new life here.

Everyone had an opinion. Why were they placed in the middle of a tiny rural area? Who precisely are they? What was known about them? Did they have criminal records?

No one could get any real answers and some of the men told their stories on local radio and they seemed genuine.
The women in the area rightly or wrongly were scared for their safety. You only had to look at a local women's group Facebook page which has thousands of members to read the anger and worry.

These women are not racists. They are ordinary mothers and housewives who were genuinely concerned if they and their daughters could walk their beach alone without fear like they have done for years. It was probably extremely unfair on the men but the fear was there.

They want assurance that they have nothing to worry about.

They also wondered why Ukrainian women and children were not put into Termonfeckin instead. Could the men not have been split up and accommodated in smaller groups in urban areas like Dalkey, Monkstown or Ballsbridge. The RDS is empty.

Let me tell you the women of Drogheda are the nicest you'll meet and have welcomed people from all over Europe into their town and surrounding villages over the last 20 years. They have also stood behind Ukraine.

Their questions are legitimate and sadly the whole immigration and refugee issue is being exploited by the far right wing Irish Freedom Party because the Government, the politicians and the general media including RTE are not having a proper grown up open debate on it.

I have no problem welcoming immigrants to Ireland but if we are to sort out the homeless and housing crisis for our own people, then at some stage there will have to be a limit put on the numbers we take in until we have the infrastructure in place to take more.

You just can't throw hundreds of people from abroad into a town or village in rural Ireland without considering the fall out and consequences of it.

I have no problem with people from war zones like the Ukraine, Syria and Afghanistan coming to Ireland. They have suffered enormously, lost everything and need all the help we can give them.

But Georgia, Albania and Algeria let me tell you they are not war zones. People from these countries are economic migrants not refugees. If they don't fulfil the visa criteria to live and work in Ireland then they should be sent on the next plane home.

The same thing now happens to us if we try to get into America.

We can't let every Tom, Dick and Harry into the country. There are immigration rules to be observed and enforced which don't seem to be happening at the moment. Other EU countries like Denmark and Sweden don't do it so why should we?

Yes we are a welcoming people and will continue to be. But there is a massive underlying fear out there on the streets and especially among women that we are moving far too quickly on the immigration front.

The Government would be wise to start paying attention. We are not a fascist people. We don't need the Irish Freedom Party to be allowed to get the oxygen it needs to feed mistrust and hatred especially in working class areas where people feel like second class citizens already. Their public protests against refugees and immigrants are wrong and should be stopped.

Our village is split down the middle over the immigrants. Many want them kicked out and moved elsewhere. Others feel we should extend the hand of friendship and make them feel at home.

Other people are sitting on the fence and afraid to give them opinions in case they'll be branded a racist or fascist. The issue has caused turmoil.

Well apparently the last time I looked I live in a Republic where I have a right to express my opinion and I will do so until the day I die.

The hard nosed lefties of course don't believe anyone has a right to express a conservative opinion or disagree with their Woke philosophy. The right wings do not believe in freedom of speech.

There is a middle ground solution to everything including immigration.

Common sense needs to prevail so don't be bringing another hundred thousand immigrants into Ireland if we don't have the housing or schools to look after them.

Every refugee and immigrant has their own particular story to tell. Those fleeing wars and suppression do need our help.

But let's do it one step at a time and have a plan in place and bring all the people with us in this great little friendly Republic.