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

He's had an eventual time here too it appears

The "not everyone who has an issue with immigration and refugees is far right" thing is true but actually leaves the far right badly exposed. Yes, many people in the general Irish population may well have a problem with the refugee numbers and the accommodation crisis etc - but nearly all of the 'outrage' and street protests and noise on social media is indeed coming from the far right. Ordinary people are simply not engaged with the subject to this extent.

I rarely hear the refugee issue being discussed in every day discussions - good, bad or indifferent.

you know i'm going to delete what I said there because I can see now you are only trying to bait me and get me threadbanned.

I'm not on social media, so I'm not positioned to comment on who is generating and amplifying, what you perceive as 'outrage' around asylum seekers / IPAs / refugees, terms that you conveniently deploy interchangeably. My only experience of the protests are what I have seen, both in the mainstream media and on YouTube. To my admittedly untrained eye, the bulk of the protestors appear to be ordinary members of the community, with large numbers of women, accompanied by babies in prams and young children, plus a significant cohort of older people. These ordinary citizens appear to be significantly engaged, yet you have the temerity to brand them as "far right". Can't you see that this tactic is not only disingenuous, but ultimately destructive, as it will legitimately drive a wider cross-section of the community into the arms of the far right?

Have you ever considered that people do not discuss the "refugee" issue, specifically with you? People are generally pretty perceptive and tend to avoid discussing migration issues, with those of particular leanings. Anecdotally, I'm hearing the issue discussed with increasing frequency, both in my professional and personal spheres. The overriding sentiment is that the volume of asylum seekers / IPAs / refugees landing on our shores is unsustainable and it's time to consider a hiatus.

The "not everyone who has an issue with immigration and refugees is far right" thing is true but actually leaves the far right badly exposed. Yes, many people in the general Irish population may well have a problem with the refugee numbers and the accommodation crisis etc - but nearly all of the 'outrage' and street protests and noise on social media is indeed coming from the far right. Ordinary people are simply not engaged with the subject to this extent.

I rarely hear the refugee issue being discussed in every day discussions - good, bad or indifferent.

I welcome the chance to dig down on this with you.

I understand you to say there is a large part of the population who "have a problem with the refugee numbers and the accommodation crisis".

A smaller group, who you insist on labelling Far Right, feel the same way but are more outraged and vocal about it.

In a sense the achievement of the protestors has been in allowing more and more of the privately annoyed to join with those expressing themselves publicly. That is a difficult jump. There are taboos to be overcome.

Is it possible that people are sounding you out and concluding you mightn't be receptive? Is there a bit of a Heisenberg Effect in play?

Saw portmagee mentioned a day or two ago, have in laws down there. Locals are now in the minority n dumbstruck. With hotels gone for refugees n Airbnb now banned it's game over for the tourist town.

https://m.independent.ie/regionals/kerryman/news/over-200-more-ukrainian-refugees-to-arrive-in-south-kerry-41966572.html

If that's the case why aren't the numbers protesting getting bigger?

They have actually got smaller because they are not talking to each apparently.

The Nationalist crowd have about 60 and Irexit crowd have about 80.

If they would only pool together they would have 140.

😂

Close to three hundred last night at the Five Lamps after East Wall, Sheriff Street and North Inner City met up.

I posted up thread about twelve places around the country having protests in the next couple of days.

But the focus on numbers is wrong - what the protests have achieved is the mainstreaming and normalisation of certain views about immigration. Continuing to do that should be our focus.

Look at this thread for example. Do you imagine people on here would have been voicing these opinions six months ago. That's mostly due to the wheels falling off the immigration system but also credit is due to those who removed the taboo on giving out about immigration.

This guy appears to be anything but "Far Right". I'm sure the media will take a "pas d'ennemis a gauche" view.

The media you're literally linking to?

AirBNB is not banned.

His appearance doesn't help as you see from the likes of Matt Cooper and left wing grifter dickhead Mark Malone

All of the opinions these guys are giving could be lifted straight from GB News, the Daily Express and Nigel Farage's Twitter account. It's quite surreal to see the Irish anti-refugee crowd being at one with right wing English nationalism and NI loyalism.

Obviously I know of the three sources you mention but I've never actually looked in to any of them.

Hard to make the case though that the protestors here are just repeating UK material given how much more successful we've been.

I think the whole right wing characterisation of us is miles off. We are against the government and the NGOs. Who have been captured by leftists. To those leftists we're the enemy so we must be The Right.

We're not, but I'm happy to have them miss opportunities by making mistakes like that.

It's not Right versus Left. In the towns and neighbourhoods having these centres imposed on them it's Bottom versus Top. People's loss of power over their lives at a local level. The major disconnect in our society.

The groundswell isn't just about immigration.

*I met Farage once - he's by far the most charismatic politician I've ever encountered. After an hour he had people who hated him eating out of his hand and looking for selfies.