What are your views on Multiculturalism in Ireland? - Threadbanned User List in OP

Another angle is that I left just after the banking crash.. and for well over a decade previously, I had paid my taxes in full, been in constant employment etc.. and when I returned to Ireland later (even though I continued to pay tax in Ireland while abroad), none or very little of it was relevant. I was expected to start from the beginning once more. It wasn't counted towards welfare, or any other help by the government.. and the cost of settling once more in Ireland turned me off it completely.

Whereas foreigners can come to Ireland, be treated above Irish citizens, have a rake of NGOs/support groups available to them, etc.

TBH I think western nations have decided that the native population isn't important anymore. There's no real bonus to being "native", and if anything, there's host of negatives. Seems the desire is for us to leave, and be replaced with foreign groups.

Nah.. not really my perspective.

I think it's the influence of multiculturalism.. in that having a national identity is not desired. It's why there's so much emphasis on recognising the different foreign cultures that settle here as being distinctly different from each other. The idea that natives would gain preferential treatment as natives, smacks too much of nationalism, and as the predominate population (the majority) they shouldn't receive any support. Minorities trump. Integration and/or assimilation isn't required when there's no dominant culture to merge into. If everyone is divided and supported as being different, then, there's no obstacle to pushing out native groups.

Which is silly as the native groups in all non-western countries receive preferential treatment.. but I guess "we" have to be different.

I feel like this article is trying to make me feel sorry for the couple in this situation but instead it makes me angry that we have systems that can be abused so wholly. Not in trouble, just impatient and want to jump the queue.

What I want from reading that article is that Ireland investigates the man in Greece who has connections in Ireland and is facilitating illegal immigration but that won't happen

Would that mean that whoever gets in as a result of the general population having enough, will also just be out for themselves too?

I doubt that most of the general population are even aware of the NGOs existing, except as an abstract notion (unless they're actively involved or supporting one or two). It's not as if RTE are doing interviews or investigations into such organisations.

We'll see a shift in the next election due to other factors, most of which are economic. Immigration/NGOs aren't going to be a factor, because there's no public discussion on the topic.

Neither are migrants though. Most migrants end up on renewable visas, until they make the decision to gain permanent residency or citizenship (whichever is applicable for that country). Also, the majority of migrants actually end up leaving when their visa's expire.. that's generally not the case with refugees, which is why the cap was specific to them. Also refugees tend to require more supports in place to establish themselves, whereas with migrants the onus is on them to provide for themselves. Usually.

It's worth remembering the human/emotional element to all these situations. A refugee applying for citizenship is likely to receive a more favourable/sympathetic audience, than a purely economic migrant.. if they're both lacking particular in-demand skills. In a way, being a refugee is probably the best way to gain access to a European country.. and there tends also to be more NGOs/support groups available to them, than for a generalised migrant.

So, I can understand the attention given to refugees. Kinda. TBH, I think they'd be better off not making any distinction between them, and placing the cap on overall numbers, but that's unlikely to happen considering the guilt trip ability the UN wields in the West.