Ukrainian refugees in Ireland - Megathread

What's wrong with the photos the media used? Do you think the government are trying to hide something?

Do you think the government take away the camp beds after the "government photographers" take their photos?

Also who are the government photographers?

I know they wouldn't get out of a place with fighting FFS. But I wouldn't be hanging around waiting for the fight to come to me, especially if I had kids. And airstrikes are still occuring outside of the field of battle. If I had children, no way would I stay anywhere in Ukraine. Not a hope. And so what if they bring their own vehicles. WTF is it to you?

I was in another large hotel close to Citywest recently which is full of asylum seekers from countries other than The Ukraine. At least ⅔ of those I saw at reception, outside the main door and in the common areas were young males. Perhaps the female and the older asylum seekers were elsewhere in the complex but in this overtly sensitive time am I even allowed to question the demographics of those seeking asylum here? I know for centuries we too exported many of our citizens, often young males as well. But I'm not sure any of this has been thought through properly. Where are all these asylum seekers going to live and work and more importantly in my view, what about the challenges of social and cultural integration? Because if we hive all these people off to their own enclaves we'll make the current no-go areas of our towns & cities look like Disney World. 

And on The Ukraine itself, by most metrics it's been the poorest country in the European region for years. That's despite having huge resources and potential, so we're told. Where were all these bleeding hearts years ago when it seems The Ukraine was being neglected and their citizens couldn't reap the rewards of their potential? It seems "the West" was happy to let The Ukraine struggle as long as Putin was only warring in the east of the country and our economies weren't being threatened, despite the fact that it seems to me that The Ukraine itself was being mismanaged. 

Bit of a late night Kerfuffle, I see 😉

This mornings Indo.

I think the projections seem conservative, 33,000 expected to arrive by the end of the year 🤔

That's 1,434 per week.

The Number of Ukrainian refugees here now seems to stand at 43,000

We've heard about ambitious, grandeous plans to have accommodation ready for approx 9,000 available by the end of August, that's in about 6 weeks, fanciful I think at this stage.

We don't seem to have definitive numbers for the Total amount currently in Hotels but it must be at least 30,000 but likely more. We do however know that seperately there's at least 10,000 in emergency Accommodation including 1000"s of children, this involves a number of types of accommodation but mainly hotel's.

We know, some major events coming up, Sports and concerts so there'll certainly be no spare room capacity in Dublin and some surrounding counties, this is possibly the reason behind the Terminal Building debacle, an enormous Tent structure being constructed at the city west and of course Gormanstown camp opening.

The article notes numerous "Private Warnings" most of which are being ignored. I go back to the fact we really don't know who's coming in if the folks arring are seeking protection under the EU directive.

A bit of a Kerfuffle is the kindest thing I can surmise from this mess and let's not forget, record homeless numbers expected shortly.

Worth noting the mention of "Others" seeking refuge, what's actually not being mentioned is this, Near 600, mainly Somalian, we're actually INVITED here by the previous government and they arrived here over a month ago, there was no rush of "Others" arring at our ports of entry. These folks dispersed in a number of hotels in Longford, Westmeath and further afield.

But one paragraph stuck out for me

"Last week, the ban on deportations of asylum-seekers denied refuge was lifted after Ukrainian refugees were forced to sleep in an old terminal building at Dublin Airport due to the State running out of accommodation"

Can we expect to see, mass deportations imminently 🤔🤔 absolutely not.

Morning all..

I just cant get over the Government line “ we will house refugees in tents for a week “ Where in gods name are the planning to put them after a week ? There is litterly no where to go ?

It's complete nonsense, there's no hotel rooms available in Dublin on at least September, unless they scramble to find places further afield.

I can imagine that becoming a nightmare. There's a food court beside it as ya know but absolutely nothing in the town in terms of longer term accommodation.

It might be unpopular among the NGOs and the liberal media, but the UK has the right idea to be honest.

Far better than our open door, open to abuse policies, and with a compliant media not asking key questions or holding Government to account, the real story is that we probably have no idea how many are really here, and from where at this stage.

I'm sure it'll all be grand......

Absolutely, it's assumed block booking a hotel is just about waving a rather large cheque and a number of hotels taken over already had a pretty straightforward set up, one owner, seasonal staff, limited additional services etc.

Taking over Celtic Tiger era hotels, some still in resolution processes, complex ownership structures and a host of additional challenges, is not straightforward.

Of course its a highly profitable proposition for companies who own these properties but there's legacy issues and obligations that have to be addressed.

The NI conflict is comparing apples and oranges really.

What went on up there during The Troubles was an occupying British force fighting localised terrorism. Not a full scale invasion of Ireland.

For it to be a valid comparison, the Republic of Ireland itself would need to be fighting off an invasion from the British via the north.

If the British were in fact invading from the north and Irish people, including friends and family were dying in their thousands while trying to fight them off, you can be sure lots would be fleeing.

I'd say many people got a bit antsy down here when the Dublin/Monaghan bombings happened, which paled in comparison to what's currently happening in Ukraine.

You've also a lot more potential there for other countries surrounding Ukraine like Belarus to get involved. Again, very different to the situation here as an Island on the periphery of a continent.

An economist would say that it is expensive to raise a population. It is cheaper to import a population. As an society, you don't have to pay as much for maternity leave, healthcare, childcare, education, etc until the population reaches adulthood where they can work and contribute back to the economy.

A environmentalist might suggest that the last thing that this world needs is overpopulation by subsidising having more children.

Well said, can't believe that discussion went on after I went to bed 😏

Edit, I can believe it 😁

Why does this matter? Why are people getting their knickers in a twist over a few photos and where journos can go? All will be clear in time - one presumes that guests at Gormanstown tented facility have phones and are capable of using them...........