The hotel owner whose premises was to be used as a direct provision centre for asylum seekers had previous threats in recent weeks, it has emerged.

The Caiseal Mara Hotel in Moville, Co Donegal was attacked and set on fire in the early hours of Sunday in an arson attack.

More than 100 asylum seekers are due to arrive in the seaside town in the coming weeks.

The owner of the hotel was injured and considerable damage was caused to the building when it was attacked just after 4am on Sunday.

Now it has been revealed that the owner of the hotel received threats in recent weeks over the plans to house the asylum seekers.

It is understood a number of phonecalls were made to the hotel of a threatening nature in recent days before the attack on Sunday morning.

Local Senator Padraig Mac Lochlainn said he had spoken to family members and was aware of the threats.

(Image: Aoife Moore/PA Wire)

He said: “I am aware of the threats and I understand that the Gardai are also aware of them and that they are being investigated.

“I understand the threats were made by phone and it is believed that the calls were made by local people.

“You are always going to get a few idiots in any town but the fact that there were previous threats is now evidence that this was not just a random attack,” he said.

He added that the overall situation was handled very badly by the Department of Justice and that people had legitimate concerns over the arrival of the asylum seekers.

(Image: (North West Newspix))

He said “While many people in Moville are concerned about the absence of any consultation or preparation for the planned Direct Provision Centre at the hotel that will house around 100 asylum seekers, their concerns are not racist or indeed, unreasonable.”

“The Department of Justice and the Reception and Integration Agency have treated the community with contempt and disrespect and lessons must be learned from all of this”.

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“However the vast, vast majority of people in Moville and Donegal reject racism or intimidation. And they reject the person or persons responsible for this shameful arson attack that could have led to the death of the family that own the hotel and they reject those persons who have issued threats against the family. Anybody with information on these incidents should assist the gardaí with their enquiries”.