Sinn Fein councillor Daithi Doolan claims there was a worrying amount of organisation behind the actions of the counter-protesters, who congregated outside the cathedral and shouted anti-refugee slogans.

"I don't believe what happened was spontaneous, " said Doolan. "Certain individuals involved were not from the area and were there to promote their racist agenda and increase tension."

According to Doolan, the continued marginalisation of areas such as the southinner city has led to asylum-seekers being scapegoated by locals disgruntled with the government.

"People in the area around St Patrick's Cathedral have genuine concerns in relation to health and housing, " he said. "Their issues are legitimate but there is a false perception that asylum-seekers are jumping the queue and being treated in a preferential manner."

Scuffles broke out outside the cathedral on Saturday evening, as the hunger strikers were being brought away, when supporters of the Afghan men clashed with youths chanting racist slogans.

Throughout the week a group of up to 30 people chanted "let them die" and "send them home". There were several verbal confrontations as counter-protesters accused asylum-seekers of stealing Irish jobs and living off state benefits.

Labour councillor Kevin Humphreys also said the protest outside the cathedral could be explained largely by the lack of resources being allocated to the area.

"This area has been subjected to continuous marginalisation by the government, " he said. "People living there have not seen the benefits of the Celtic Tiger and there is a lot of frustration about that."

Humphreys said he did not believe the protests were organised by an outside group.

One counter-protester said people in the area were frustrated at the growing number of non-Irish residents and claimed that Ireland was seen as a "soft touch" by asylum-seekers.

David Rafferty told the Sunday Tribune that local people were unable to find jobs on building sites and in other sectors because foreign workers were being employed. Actions such as the hunger strike would only heighten resentment of asylum-seekers, he said.