Time for a zero refugee policy? - *Read OP for mod warnings and threadbans - updated 11/5/24*

thomas 123

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120209322#Comment_120209322

As someone who would lean towards sinn fein lately - mostly due to work of TDs in my constituency- their handling of this currently would turn me off . I wonder is it more a case of looking “politically correct” vs not actually doing the right thing for some nefarious reason.

Beasty

Cognitive Dissident threadbanned

Mad_maxx

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120209397#Comment_120209397

It’s about keeping the media on side , they struggled for years to curry any favour with the media and you need favourable media coverage to take power

thomas 123

Then who is keeping the media pro refugee?

I appreciate a certain company provides the news for most radio stations for example but who’s interest is it really in to go that deep?

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120209473#Comment_120209473

1) The Government

2) NGOs

3) Those making a fortune from the accommodation contracts. Think groups with multiple properties, hotels, large buildings etc.

It's in the best interest of all three to keep the media on side. Money talks.

Overheal

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120209473#Comment_120209473

It goes as deep as you want whenever making vague aspersions of a conspiracy theory. Could be a whole galaxy of lizard persons really in control of the media, so the media will let their fellow lizard persons into the country. The perfect crime.

Or maybe human persons who work in 'the media' are just compassionate people reporting on a humanitarian crisis. Is that really so hard to believe?

Strazdas

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120209571#Comment_120209571

All conspiracy theory nonsense. I can assure you that nobody wants to be using hotels to house refugees (or homeless people for that matter) - it's an extremely bad look for the State and always has been.

Overheal

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120209682#Comment_120209682

We are discussing the topic: Do you really find it so hard to believe that people in the media might simply be compassionate human beings, and the media's refugee reporting doesn't by necessity have to be down to some conspiracy (for which we have no rational basis)? Most is not all, nor does it a conspiracy make.

What percentage of these stations are licensed to 1 company? Just out of interest

https://www.bai.ie/en/broadcasters/

Hamachi

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120209697#Comment_120209697

Do you think that people in the media skew more compassionate than the general population or that people who choose that career path tend to be more altruistic?

Not a trick question by the way. I’m genuinely intrigued by your comment.

thomas 123

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120209697#Comment_120209697

I don’t have figures but : https://www.irishtimes.com/business/media-and-marketing/communicorp-renews-contract-for-local-radio-news-bulletins-1.3491949

I’m not saying they are owned by one entity , I’m saying the news bulletins are provided by one entity in most cases.

Beasty

That's enough of the Conspiracy Theories

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120209690#Comment_120209690

You were the guy saying Ireland didn't have an opt-out on taking refugees... which you were completely wrong about.

You're "assuring" me you're right on this, though, yeah? 😄

I simply answered the guy's question re: who is keeping the media on side. If you want to think the media are promoting only one side of the narrative because they're "nice people" or whatever, then go ahead. You're wrong again, though.

Strazdas

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120209741#Comment_120209741

Using hotels to house refugees or homeless people is a terrible look, correct? I don't care who is benefitting from it.....it looks horrendous for the country and the government. Even the media would say that using hotels like this represents a massive failure.

Overheal

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120209757#Comment_120209757

Because there's one thing everyone agrees about the Rwandan genocide - it was that the Hôtel des Mille Collines was terrible optics.

:|

Can we have a bit of perspective here? As if anyone in the world is slagging the Irish for being hospitable to refugees! We're not comparing apples to apples, genocides to inter-nation wars, but come on, really? ? I can't think of any time prior that homing refugees in hotels etc. was ever seen by anyone as the horrendous thing going on. 'Those poor tourists who couldn't find a booking in Rwanda, like.'

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120209757#Comment_120209757

How it "looks" was not what we were discussing. But, to give you my opinion; no, during a housing crisis, I don't think accepting asylum seekers and giving them a nice hotel to stay in is a "terrible look". As a temporary measure, it's a hell of a lot better than the situation they're supposed to be fleeing.

The overall situation and government policy is a farce, though. People won't accept it. Let's see how the government move to correct over coming months.

Strumms

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120209690#Comment_120209690

hotels do. They can refuse at any time.

” we are not an international protection facility or asylum accommodation facility , we are a leisure and business tourism center, with accommodation and amenities aimed towards both parties and therefore we won’t be accepting long term booking for asylum/protection…”

can’t be done for discriminatory reasons as they can instigate a maximum stay.. say 4 weeks…

An example…….jury’s Inn Galway is just 3 weeks, did a dummy booking there.

hotels are making an absolute killing, between accommodation, meals, amenities etc…

government make an enquiry on the matter… all they need to say.. “sorry, that doesn’t suit our business model, the end “

wont happen as too much tax payers money to be made.

UsBus

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120207618#Comment_120207618

First thought in my mind as well to be honest.

Insensitive maybe. But my sensitivity and humanity has gone out the window for the state of this place these days. Absolute basket case of a country. No longer a place of a thousand welcomes. Our good nature has been more than abused. Reading of the retribution dealt out to the lad arrested on sexual assault, was only in the country since September..!!! Zero refugee policy? more like zero tolerance being dealt out..

Overheal

What's the current figure for refugees in Ireland? The 2019 figure I have is of no use.

_Kaiser_

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120209118#Comment_120209118

I for one will not be renewing my newspaper subscription when it's up in the next 2 months. Every day for the last few days has seen several "articles" and opinion pieces pushing this notion that there's nothing to see here and we shouldn't be supporting "far right" types.

This is Ireland FFS.. One of the most relaxed (or you could say docile) populations in Europe where everything runs on a ridiculous "ah shure it'll be grand!" approach and where we collectively fall over ourselves to show how progressive and modern we are (there's probably a study in there about the effects of decades of Church conservatism and the aftermath on a population).

As I've said before, we don't even have a "right" anymore in mainstream politics - just various shades of left and servile "leaders" chasing trends and the EU's coat tails.

But I take a real issue with the notion that ordinary citizens, who are seeing and feeling the on the ground effects of this immigration "strategy" in a very serious and negative way to their own families are being made out to be extremists for calling this out and exercising their democratic rights to protest. The almost universally one-sided coverage by the media on this issue is again (as with covid before it) a real indictment of the supposed independence of that media - something that is vital in a modern democracy.

But worse again are the ordinary cheerleaders who through either ignorance or fantasy, or just contraryism likewise trying to demonise anyone who not just has a problem with this approach, but is attacked for even voicing concerns. This is the result of a decade of social media influence and particularly American ideological battles and cultural issues that are being played out in our society where it has no place, doesn't fit, and only leads to friction from the off.

The point of no return has likely been passed at this stage. We have taken on too much for little more than virtue signalling and false messaging that we have no choice (we absolutely do and still have the right to opt out of the EU response) , and we are feeling the immediate effects already, but far more damaging and long term will be the effects over the next decade as this is not a short term issue make no mistake.

The sickening thing is that none of the people or groups currently advocating for this will be the ones who will be left to deal with the fallout - and not just the native population but the new arrivals who find themselves woefully ill equipped for life here and will receive little to no long term support to integrate properly. More likely unfortunately is the results we've seen elsewhere - but of course, as usual in Ireland, we can't learn from the mistakes of others. We must slavishly repeat them and usually with enough of an "Irish twist" to actually make the situation worse.

All of this could have been prevented and we could still have helped where we can (not forgetting that we already give up a fortune annually in foreign aid supports too), but instead we will see things get a lot worse before they get better.

Strazdas

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120209864#Comment_120209864

The issue I have with hotels is that it represents a failure of government. They were being used to house homeless families ten years ago plus. It's noticeable that most countries in Europe don't have to use hotels to house either refugees or homeless families and certainly not for periods that last years.

keynes

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120209967#Comment_120209967

As an example, I've yet to see one article in MSM on what immigration did to Sweden. This once famously peaceful country on the verge of the Arctic Circle is now ravaged by gangland crime, gun violence, and public shootings. If immigration did this in a well-run country like Sweden, what'll do in our shambolically-run country? Journalists should at least be informing people and asking such questions. The wilful failure to do so is a shocking dereliction of duty.

minimary

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120210011#Comment_120210011

There was a great one in the Telegraph last week https://archive.is/gZEU0 but I doubt we'd see a similar one in Irish media right now

"This nods to the other problem: Sweden’s generosity to accommodate asylum seekers is rivalled only by the problems it has always had with integrating them into society.

Perhaps the best measure of integration is the difference in unemployment rates between non-natives and locals. In Britain, it’s negligible but Sweden has the worst gap in the developed world (15 vs 4 per cent). If you allow people smugglers to pour tens of thousands of usually male asylum seekers into a system unable to absorb them, you fill up edge-of-town estates where organised crime is the big business."

"Lise Tamm, a former chief prosecutor, complained about the “naivety” of the system as a whole. Thousands of decent people, she said, are being left in the lurch “as we protect the integrity of criminals and ignore the victims”.You can see her frustration. There are plenty of calls for laws to change – but must a whole country abandon its liberal values to adjust for a new criminal minority? Then again, Sweden is running out of options. Overall, its crime rate is still about the European average but for this specific sort of crime – the exploitation of children, thermos bombs and gangland shootings – it has somehow become one of the worst in the developed world."

creeper1

Sweden's problems are simply insurmountable. Transitioning to a multicultural society is a process that is essentially irreversible. That is why a country must be very careful going down that road because reversing is impossible.

If it's to be done at all (and in my view should not be) it should be done very slowly at a snails pace with constant checks to make sure integration is going well and crime isn't rising.

Ireland's international protection applicants are essentially all economic migrants. No one realistically, not even Ukrainians, have a small island at the extreme west of Europe as a natural place they would flee to. The nearest wars are thousands of miles away.

Economic migrants should provide the following documentation.

1. Passport - beyond ridiculous this must be stated.

2. Criminal background check - this should be authenticated and have an English translation.

3. Education certificates.

4. An Irish government invitational letter stating that the job the migrant is taking cannot or will not be filled by an Irish person.

To me if the above was fulfilled then applicants from Georgia or wherever else could become legitimate and maybe even welcomed.

Cody montana

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120208753#Comment_120208753

I’ve yet to see a protest.

And from the pictures, only a few hundred people turn up.

Saying that, I’ve also only seen pictures of the gatherings welcoming people too.

thomas 123

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120210113#Comment_120210113

I personally don’t understand the fascination between numbers and the message of the protest from any side on any issue.

Though I do think the numbers being small speaks to the localized impact of inward migration - for example Lismore and other small towns.

Mad_maxx

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120209473#Comment_120209473

The media consist of people who are naturally inclined to support this kind of thing but as Ireland is so small, it’s a parish bubble of groupthink on every subject

Boggles

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120210113#Comment_120210113

Irexit party loons shouting and roaring incoherent hate at a small bunch of like minded from the videos I watched.

batman_oh

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120210011#Comment_120210011

Sweden is the model for where we will end up following this. The same liberal approach to crime too - sure 500 convictions is grand and teenagers can do what they want.

The_Kew_Tour

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120209640#Comment_120209640

"Compassionate"

It's another buzz word. Come on like.

Hungry Burger

Estimates saying 180k here by the end of play this year, so combine the population of Limerick and Waterford together and you’re still more than 30k short in change of the amount of people we’re importing in.

Anyone who says this isn’t stark raving madness doesn’t live in the real world.