Cllr Linda de Courcy Criticises South Dublin County Council Information Leaflet on Asylum Seekers

Cllr Linda de Courcy Criticises South Dublin County Council Public Information Leaflet on Asylum Seekers

Councillor Linda de Courcy has strongly criticised the recent public information leaflet distributed by South Dublin County Council, describing it as misleading and one-sided. de Courcy argues that the leaflet fails to address legitimate concerns raised by communities regarding asylum seekers and presents a biased view that neglects critical issues.

The leaflet purports to separate fact from fiction in relation to asylum seekers, what it in fact does is simply reassert the opinion and talking points which are causing so much frustration in our communities. The approach from the government and most of the opposition seems to be to conflate the positive aspects of migration such as highly qualified healthcare workers or engineers who are an intrinsic part of our healthcare system and economy coming to Ireland to work, with unchecked mass immigration. Qualified professionals coming to contribute to our society and economy are not the issue, it is the mass influx of what appears to be mostly male asylum seekers into communities that cannot cope with the influx and in many cases these men are being placed into small communities.

Often hundreds of men are placed in the only hotel in the area which has massive detrimental knock-on effects to the local economy. To read this leaflet, you would think that none of this is an issue at all”.

Some examples of information on the leaflet includes:

Fiction - asylum seekers are unvetted”.

Between 2022 and 2023, 8,253 people presented at Dublin airport without passports. How can you perform background checks on someone when you don’t know who they are”; de Courcy emphasised. “The EuroDac system is not a criminal database and cannot screen for criminal history. Its primary purpose is to help EU member states ascertain which country is responsible for a person’s international protection application.

de Courcy also highlighted concerns about people coming to Ireland solely for the benefits. In addition to weekly cash payments, asylum seekers are accommodated, provided with meals, medical cards, and free travel. There’s also the promise of own door accommodation if their applications are successful” she said.

The councillor pointed to community concerns across the country as a result of the current government approach. “A cross-government risk analysis found that large influxes of populations into local communities could risk damaging social cohesion. This is clearly being seen in areas all over Ireland, from Coolock to Newtownmountkennedy to Dundalk and Dundrum” de Courcy noted. de Courcy also addressed the misconception that asylum seekers are rarely refused entry, The leaflet states:

“Fiction” - People are never refused”.

“Being refused asylum status is not the same as being deported. The government operates a voluntary deportation system and has no data on who actually leaves the country” she explained.

While current figures on refusals may seem positive, the number of people seeking asylum continues to skyrocket, with January 2024 seeing 1,602 arrivals compared to 1,232 in January 2023. The majority of these people come from safe countries, either their own, other EU member states, or the

Cllr de Courcy concluded by emphasising the need for balanced and accurate public information issues surrounding asylum seekers are complex and multifaceted. The council’s leaflet proves that people and communities with genuine concerns are being spoken at rather than being listened to. It is this approach that has caused such division and concern within our communities. Independent Ireland will address these issues in detail in our forthcoming policy documents