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

What aspect of it are they discussing? Ballinrobe and Roscrea seemed way too localised an issue to be engendering national debate. Is it just the emergency accommodation situation in general?

Well of course, all those hotel contracts don’t come cheap

https://archive.ph/3ukkY

It appears form the article that the €800 ARP scheme paid to homeowners to rent a room to Ukrainian refugees (way above the going rate in most parts of the country) isn’t even included in these figures

McEntee and her colleagues are exactly WHY we're in the position we're in. It's only because the party bosses are concerned about the impact of all this on their chances in the upcoming elections that the tune is very belatedly changing. I said that here days ago.

I have very little in common with FG in general. Originally voted in back in 2011 with a mandate to reform politics in the aftermath of the crash (anyone remember Enda and his promised "report cards"), instead we got more of the same, with the added twist of them selling off half the country through NAMA (thank you Noonan) and a leader who went into hiding anytime the political heat became too much - only to then reappear a few days/week later declaring "nothing to see here"... or that infamous tale of the man with 2 pints...

Oh and let's not forget the arrogance in general - like Hogan and his "down to a trickle" threats to those who would refuse to pay for their latest scheme, the thing that actually got large parts of the country out on the streets.. Irish Water (recently renamed to its Irish version I note. Probably an attempt to distance it from that scandal - like rebranding the Traffic Corps to Roads Policing in the aftermath of the penalty points cancelling scandal. Pepperidge Farm remembers though!)

Then there's the current incarnation of FG.. Led by a man who came to the top job by exploiting his sexuality on national radio during the SSM referendum to boost his opinion polls (conveniently ignoring his position on the subject in the Dail only a few years earlier) and who has no apparent political principles or ideology but instead treats the office as an ego trip as we've seen every time he embarrasses himself in the media.

As for McEntee herself. A woman who only was elected on a sympathy vote and who like the rest of "New FG" seems to make policy decisions based on what's trending on Twitter while the country falls apart around them - headlines about how wealthy we supposedly are (noting that according to coverage over the weekend we're officially in a recession now again) badly covering the reality of multiple domestic crises - most of their own making! - and who has presided over turmoil and mass retirements in the Gardai membership and an increasingly dangerous country in general due to her incompetence. (Edited to add: Oh and there's her crusade to criminalise contrary views through her imminent "Hate Speech"/hurt feelings legislation which has been roundly objected to, domestically and internationally!)

I won't even get into FF whose leader's only goal was to not be the only one who wasn't Taoiseach and who abdicated the running of the country to NPHET and Tony Holohan, or the Greens who again have supported all this and introduced various new taxes and charges under the guise of "de environment" and led by a man so divorced from reality it's astounding!

So no, I think you'll find I've actually very little in common with the current Government - not that I think SF are the answer either (they still think that people here consider the North and unification as a priority issue and their immigration stance is no different to the rest - arguably even worse). Like many people out there there is no mainstream party that represents me.

But to bring this back to the topic at hand, giving the Government credit for making noises about addressing the elephant in the room that everyone else was screaming about for the last 2 years - a situation which they themselves are directly responsible for causing! - is an interesting suggestion, especially when you remember their track record in general as outlined in brief (because there's a lot more that's gone wrong under their watch remember) above.

Too little, too late and the consequences of their decisions will be with us for decades.. Thanks for that guys and girls! I'm sure my son will love the Ireland you've created for him in the next decade or so!

But shouldn't Gript be welcoming changes to asylum policy? It's a bit odd to be demanding the Govt tighten up the asylum rules and then ask 'why did you do it?' when it happens.

No big fan of McGuirk but to see him hold his cool and demolish Regina Doherty who claimed asylum from Meath to Dublin when the Meath “racists” rejected her at the ballot box was a joy to behold.

and government mouthpiece O’Connor trying her usual auld stick .the media and government are so far removed from the public it’s scary.oh for the halcyon days of ff under haughey.😁

I missed it but why was Regina Doherty on the show? She is usually pushed out to fly a kite or change the narrative? What was her message? As usual, none of the senior ministers are available.

The government are reacting as usual. They never ever have a plan, it's always reactionary....until the issue goes off the newspaper headlines and they'll they revert to doing nothing again.

Neale Richmond too posh to keep being enforced on the plebs perhaps

I suppose they could argue that circumstances have changed - far greater pressure on emergency accommodation for refugees and asylum seekers now than there was 12 months ago.

I think her performances over the past year must have ruled her out of the top job. Imagine her in a debate! I guess you never know but her interviews are becoming more and more embarrassing. It's abundantly clear she is not on top of her brief. I'll give her credit for actually doing interviews, most of the cabinet are in hiding.

And yet he was here ,

Arrested here ,

Deported from here ....

The only thing that was off was several posters attempts to play detectives ended up as a bunch of Clouseaus

Of course it happened,

Unlike the false claims made by others

Would have to assume this is kite flying from govt, though would be good to see some more robust enforcement of deportation orders

Note in the article title more of the continued conflation of International protection applicants with immigrants

I think some comments have been made about being the government being asleep at the wheel. I would go further than that.

They resist having any policy on anything for fear of alienating voters. Any attempt by the public to demand a policy is met with hostility (being called the "far-right" etc.) Having no policy means the country lurches from crisis to crisis. When crisis inevitably occurs then the government overreact.

We have seen this with the financial crisis, Covid, our reaction to the Ukraine invasion. In these crises, when we do react, we also want to be doing measurably the most compared to our peers. In the financial crisis we guaranteed more comprehensively than other countries to the extent that people who gambled in the financial markets were compensated. In Covid we had on average the most stringent measures though some countries peaked above Ireland for short periods.

What policies we do have, I believe, are handed to us informally by Europe. So after the refugee crisis of a few years ago, we had no obligations to take refugees from mainland Europe as we had opted out of the burden sharing system. We negotiated this opt out prior to the second Lisbon referendum when we were told to vote again. However, under pressure from Germany and other countries, and without any public discussion, we opted back in.

I think the main reason there seems to be a turn around at the moment is that Ireland's policy failure is becoming international news and the one thing the Government does not like is being embarrassed internationally.

Immigrant lawyer on Matt Cooper criticizing the whole idea of a restricted list, saying it’s valid for the likes of Georgians and Algerians to claim asylum here.

Also glad Nigeria and Pakistan weren’t put on the list given that Boku Haram and the Taliban operate respectively in parts of their country.

So naturally instead of moving to a safe part of their own country they head for a small country on the edge of Europe. Obviously this lawyer has skin in the game as representing asylum seekers is a profitable business so the more the merrier

I've posted about this before but Ireland’s inferiority complex and insecurity is deep rooted and pervasive.

It's why we had everyone buying decking, foreign apartments and BMWs in the Tiger years, why the Government launched their infamous "welfare cheats" campaign to play into it during the recession, and why we are a vassal state - first to the Catholic church, now to Europe.

Everytime we've had an opportunity of self governance we've either messed it up or handed it off as soon as possible. It's why the interests of the dominant EU countries are put ahead of our own by politicians elected to represent their constituents in Ireland, and why they are quick to say "the EU made us do it" at every opportunity.

This is why we've been fed the lines about our supposed obligations and responsibilities to any randomer who shows up at our door, and why things that we were told previously couldn't be done, or done quickly, happened virtually overnight in this case!

We've become probably the most charitable and generous country in certainly the Euro zone if not beyond over the last 2 years - but that charity and goodwill doesn't seem to extend to meaningfully solving our own problems and needs it seems.