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

Google John Kampfner's opinion piece in only yesterday's Guardian for an update on German politics. And a good dose of opinions from many in the comments section.

My own take was that the far right was slowly rising in Germany over the last decade. That almost stopped during COVID but now seems to be slowly rising again, the major change being traditional parties having to engage with it, in making decisions.

Well - a few weeks ago we weren't having a give away budget and in the last few budgets we are putting money away for a "Rainy Day", yet bizarrely we are in a financial position to "Divert" 1 Billion Euro without any debate, consultation or actual apparent causation.

This is while we still pay USC and the higher rate of tax on now relatively low incomes.

Sure Ireland has been an economic powerhouse for almost it's entire history. Oh wait

The problem with that though is that it'll only make our current situation worse as we'll still have an unsustainable amount of new arrivals already here and being paid by the welfare system as well as the other supports that are costing billions.

The Government won't just send them home so unless they return voluntarily at that point (which I'm sure many will as Ireland won't be anywhere near as attractive in a recession as the rest of us remember from only a decade ago), we'll still be stuck with the bill and the consequences.

As evidenced by Truss in the UK and others there, Farage for example, yes very probably some are.

But there is no evidence except a traunch of hysterical posters here who like to post anti governmental drivel that that is what is likely going on HERE in Ireland.

There is a stong " anti bullshxxometer" amongst Irish voters who have not had anything like in UK, big houses or wealth handed down from generation to generation nor been told that they must tug their forelock at anyone calked a lord or a lady. Anything we have, we have worked for and earned and any politician seeking to take that away from people will be, and have been given, short shrift.

They have a programme for government which they are following and all has been well flagged.

If people don't like it they should let their local representative know, and /or vote for change in the next GE.

Posting endless nonsense here does nothing, serves noone and unless there are posters posting some reasonable opinion based on fact woth relevant up to date links ( not a few years old and not you tube or X!) it is just an echo chamber howling at the sky.

Or perhaps one poster has (in your opinion).

Sigh.

Yes I'd hope that there would be a settlement but I don't think a large number of Ukrainians wil return home. Didn't a survey earlier this year confirm that 30% were keen to remain here, and that's just after a year.

Climate change and immigration into Europe are the two dominant issues of our time. Neither are going away. What makes you think immigration into Ireland will be any less important?

We have one of the highest per capita debt burdens in the world. A recession anytime soon would make us go the way of Argentina. We don't need that.

I don't get the impression that immigration or refugees are a burning issue for people in Ireland. Things like health, housing and the cost of living crisis are surely more to the forefront. People are sophisticated and intelligent enough to realise that immigration largely hasn't caused inflation or increased hospital waiting lists or housing shortages.

Having said that, it still would be very interesting to see just how well an openly right wing party would do at the next election and to see just where support for such a party would be coming from (i.e. age, social class, education, rural vs urban, male vs female etc etc).