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

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.

I get and support the idea of background checks most definitely, but asking for every address someone has lived in since birth seems extreme - especially when we're accepting complete strangers with no documentation or proof of identity at airports just because they have a sad story.

It just seems once again that we're great at imposing excessive checks on what are generally legitimate working (or formerly working) people, but can then have a free for all for others.

Take the benefits package being offered (until very recently) to Ukrainians as an example. Now look at the requirements needed to get many of those as an Irish citizen. How many Irish motorists are exempt from NCT or other rules, how many are given a medical card or financial support without having to meet criteria, how easy is it to get/build a modular home etc.

A part of the issue is not just that we've simply taken in too many people, but that we're giving them preferential treatment over our own legitimately struggling and deserving people. Worse, we're asking those same people to pay for and support it through taxation and acceptance.

We're great at looking after others, not so much at solving our own significant problems.

Some people have multiple vettings before they can even start work and they you find out that asylum seekers are getting employment with the hse and elsewhere with zero vettings ,

If anything the union's should be telling people to down tools and walkout till they are removed from their service sectors

Where are asylum seekers getting employment without vetting in the HSE?

I have yes. Funnily enough it comes up blank on this one. But don't worry, I know ow Gatling will provide me with a link.