Consultation Won’t Fix Government’s Disastrous Immigration Policy

Bad Government policy has caused Ireland’s immigration crisis to again reach a boiling point and it is time for the Government to listen to its citizens – Ireland cannot accommodate mass migration and the Government must cease forcing unwanted policies on the people of rural and urban communities all over Ireland.

Since 2022, violence has erupted in communities across Ireland upon residents discovering the Government planned to turn their neighbourhoods, towns, and villages into migrant accommodation centres. 

“The scenes we have seen for over two years are going to continue unless a sustainable and common sense approach is taken to immigration.  Residents first complain and the Government ignores them, then they protest and the Government ignores them again.  Then, the Government expresses shock when violence erupts and claims ‘further consultation is needed.’  Now, the Government asserts consultation has occurred, which is simply the Government informing residents that their objections have been discounted and migrant centre construction will commence.  This is a recipe for disaster,” said Independent Ireland Spokesperson on Urban Affairs Ken O’Flynn in remarks concerning IPAS accommodation countrywide.

People in Coolock, Dundrum, Newtownmountkennedy, Carlow, Drogheda, and countless other communities have made their position clear – they object to placement of migrant centres in their communities.  What does the Government do?  It simply informs residents that their objections were noted, their concerns dismissed, and that construction will proceed.  The Government also neglected to explain how constructing these centres is in any way beneficial to the Irish people.  That is because they are not beneficial to anyone, save economic migrants themselves and the few very-wealthy landowners who have profited greatly by providing taxpayer-funded accommodation to migrants.

More than once, we have seen peaceful protesters suffering injuries alongside a few violent agitators whose actions are condemnable.  But collective punishment is not the tactic of a democracy; it is the tactic of autocratic repression, and it must stop.

When residents complain about insufficient resources to accommodate an endless flow of migrants (to say nothing of the negative impact on social cohesion), the Government dismisses them and asserts their objections are rooted in racism.  Schools are overcrowded and underfunded?  Too bad, you’re getting a migrant centre.  You are unable to get a doctor’s appointment for weeks due to an overflow of patients?  Too bad, you’re getting a migrant centre, and don’t be a bigot.  You’ve been waiting months for an operation to remove your gallbladder, or years to fix your cataracts?  Too bad, you’re getting a migrant centre, and stop being a far-right radical.  The list could continue for days.  

Ireland has always been a welcoming country, as demonstrated by our accommodation of tens-of-thousands of Ukrainians fleeing war.  What Ireland is not is a land of limitless resources.  The Government must reverse course on its policy of self-destruction immediately.  

Independent Ireland’s General Election Manifesto will include reforms to the Government’s disastrous immigration policy.  We welcome skilled immigrants to work in private industry and in the public sector.  We need these people and we want these people.  However, we cannot continue to accept an infinite number of unskilled economic migrants seeking to benefit from Ireland’s generous (and taxpayer-funded) social welfare system.  That is the road to ruin.