Around 100 people living in tents at a Direct Provision centre in Co Clare spent their third night of sub-zero temperatures on Friday night with “raw” winter conditions set to continue this weekend and into next week.
Ireland will remain in the grip of an Arctic air mass in days to come, with no great thaw expected to follow the lifting of some cold, ice and snow warnings on Saturday.
Outreach workers in contact with the international protection applicants said a sense of “hopelessness” was beginning to set in amid poor conditions, though a small number were moved to alternative accommodation on Friday.