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

They should be used for Irish students. The government are all too happy to throw the next generation under the bus with the OAP’s. I would have jumped at the chance of one of these in my college days.

Students in Sligo are going to have a problem come September

Meanwhile

It won't be up to the EU, no more than it was when countries along the eastern borders decided enough was enough a few years ago, or when they decided to reduce supports for Ukrainians a few months ago.

You seem to think that the EU is a unified decisive body - it's not. It's made up of a disparate group of individual nation states, each with their own agendas, domestic politics, historical grievances, cultural differences and priorities etc.

The reason they are part of the group in the first place is (like we were) for what they can get out of it economically and as a deterrent to their more aggressive, less concerned about the niceties, neighbour to the East. It had nothing to do with any notion of solidarity with their neighbours or greater good ideal. It was politics and money as is always the case.

As we saw in the financial crisis and even the early days of this illegal migration, when push comes to shove, individual nations will look after their own interests and the stronger members will bully the others into compliance (eg : the treatment of Italy, Greece, and even ourselves - equals or among friends we most certainly were not a decade or so ago).

The pushback from EU citizens has already begun and can only be written off as "far right" militants for so long. When national and then European elections start to return more conservative and nationalist parties things will change rapidly. Important note though for some - conservative and nationalist does not mean extremism or "far right"ism. Too much twitter nonsense might make you think so, but these concepts are not inherently evil or even bad!

The next crisis - whether it be an even bigger surge of migration, or the next financial crisis will likely be the end of the EU in its current form. There's just too many differences for it to ever work as a political entity, and certainly not as a unified one and as I said, when it comes down to it, nations will look after themselves first as we've seen.

When the dust settles we'll have probably something more akin to the old East/West alliances but with countries like ours even more ineffectual than we are now.

To the best of my knowledge, Focus Ireland, the Father Peter McVerry Trust, the Simon Community, DePaul etc have no responsibility for accommodating current asylum seekers or refugees.

If you know my statement to be incorrect, feel free to fill us in on what is happening.

Pal you are genuinely having a laugh attempting to trot out this strawman again. I’ve called you out on it directly two if not three times previously on this thread and you’ve never acknowledged.

People are not blaming asylum seekers for causing the housing and homelessness crisis.

They are saying that our housing and health services are at breaking point as is and that adding tens of thousands of additional people in a short space of time only exacerbates our existing crises.

That is simply a fact. It is maths. If we’re already beyond strained, adding a huge amount of additional strain can only be detrimental.

Yet you persist in pretending people are just scapegoating asylum seekers for Irelands pre-existing ills. It really is rather intellectually dishonest at this point.

Probably not next time out, but I think that FF, FG and the Greens will face a lot of anger at the electoral booth and SF will very possibly get its turn.

Now of course they are extremely likely to make everything worse, but then I doubt any SF involved Government will last more than a year at most - their only real agenda is a United Ireland, something which neither side is ready for or necessarily even wants.

The Government thereafter will have to deliver changes. Not many but then all most people are asking for on this issue is controls and security, and that we not take on any more than we can handle . Not an unreasonable ask by any stretch when you consider it.

I would think weekly

I think by the time the next GE comes around all parties will have immigration front and centre on their manifestos with housing!

They know where their bread is buttered 😏

Ancedotes are allowed if its a positive about refugees and immigration.

...

Nursing homes, student accomodation - what next -The creches? Was there ever a truer statement about this farce-

“It’s time for Leo Varadkar and Micheál Martin to stop focusing on their future EU careers and focus on the issues facing the people living in this country,” said the former Fianna Fáil TD

https://m.independent.ie/irish-news/plan-to-turn-student-housing-in-sligo-into-refugee-centre-sparks-bitter-backlash/a893566610.html