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

Some of the stuff on this thread reads like satire.

This is a pretty good example but for my money the best of the lot is probably the routine about the NGO's luring people here with luxury tents.

Think that last line there is the problem here ..people using their imaginations with very little proof except what is being repeated online .

This is not entirely their fault .

The lack of communication from government all along has left a vacuum for disinformation to thrive .

But people are not passive recipients of this disinformation and should be aware that there is always a risk that any democratic society like ours is a target for darker forces who seek to influence against our democracy and try to push a narrative away from reasonable discussion .

I see many reasonable posters here trying to grapple with what is going on and I acknowledge that it is a very difficult and worrying situation for everyone

I don't agree that people should be held to account for travelling without papers if they are genuinely claiming asylum and think that more needs to be done to prevent the need for this .

Maybe allowing centres abroad staffed by IPO officials where those seeking asylum can attend , with their papers of they have them or if not go through the process of application elsewhere but safe.

Thus cutting out the middle man / trafficker who is the real enemy in this .

This would require intercountry cooperation and support which to date does not appear to be forthcoming or being considered .

At a basic level and at least , fast tracking applications so that those who are not genuine are discovered and given deportation orders /refused asylum more quickly has worked so far since February, except for Nigerians who are coming mainly across the border from the UK .

Other applications from safe countries have fallen in the last few months which I agree is not before time .

More needs to be done to make the system work efficiently.

McEntee et al have sat on their hands long enough .

https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/asylum-seekers-from-unsafe-countries-will-be-processed-through-fast-tracked-system/a1371417846.html

The constant pandering in the media to one particular religion is odd. We’ve had enough trouble with religion in this country. We finally have more agnostic people then ever and it feels regressive to be encouraging more religion.

I believe people should practice whatever religion they want but it shouldn’t be in other peoples faces and shouldn’t receive any special treatment when it comes to education, medicine, law and modern practices.

If we had an influx of hardcore christians from the USA trying to promote their regressive beliefs they’d rightly be pilloried in the media.

This old chestnut again !🤨

The last time this was dragged up it ended up with posters denying they said just what you said there .

It's a crock of sxxx and you know it .

Waiting to get housed and then bring the wife and 7 children over. If you think the situation is bad now it's going to get a whole lot worse when the reunification starts.

Still remains fact that the referendum was required because of the changes brought in by the GFA. That's why it was called.

And the fact remains that 79% of the electorate were branded as racist by the Labour party for voting yes.

No need .

We saw them .

This trash about the President and his tweets and Ramadan etc is deflection and nonsense .and exactly the disinformation I have been posting about .

Here is what our President was doing at Easter .

Is this proof enough for you @Lotus Flower that you are totally incorrect on the last PAGE of posts ?

Even a link from X ..thought you couldn't find any . Did you look ?

https://x.com/PresidentIRL/status/1774435810718241221

https://president.ie/en/diary/details/president-attends-easter-sunday-commemorations-2024/photos

How is any of this relevant ?

Nevermind you double down on your incorrect posts ?

Don't you mean people trafficking?

Probably because he was busily ATTENDING the Easter celebrations , laying wreaths etc and all this while recovering from a stroke !

Maybe he would have attended the other celebrations but chose to tweet instead ?

Maybe there are pigs flying past your window

Does anybody, except maybe you and John , really care ? But you just keep on ,

And I was responding to @Lotus Flower 's hounding another poster about Michael D not tweeting her a Happy Easter 😁

So it's aggressive now to call a post for what it is and provide links to disprove it ?

That a bit hypocritical .

They don’t look like Easter celebrations to me, as in ‘Christ died, buried and risen’ according to the Catholic faith.

Rather they look like 1916 commemorations, which is different.

Not important really but the remarks back to OP were unnecessarily snide, or maybe baiting.

If you had a holiday home would you hand it over?

For all the posturing and grandstanding by Simon Harris, Micheal Martin, talking heads in the media and others, this is a very simple situation to understand.

Ireland has/had - as with so many things - a lax, informal "be grand" attitude to immigration in general. We have a similar attitude to controls in general. We rely on voluntary compliance with the rules rather than active monitoring and enforcement in all areas of society and governance.

While that generates a relaxed casual attitude and environment, it also leaves the systems open to abuse and neglect.

This is why we have generations of people claiming welfare supports, engaging in low-level "shenanigans" to work around whatever controls there are, and the general admiration of the "cute hoor" I've referred to in previous posts.

None of this is new, none of it is a surprise, and it's endemic in Irish society and has been since probably the formation of the State.

The problem exists for those who DO play by the rules, who do believe in fairness and contribution, because they are the ones who suffer the consequences of this double standard. Their integrity and honesty is seen as weakness and even foolishness and they are the only ones who face real penalties or loss as a result.

Now add thousands upon thousands of migrants who arrive here purely for selfish personal reasons - economic opportunities, financial support, training and education, housing and medical services etc. Unlike those who arrive and enter in the correct, legitimate and legal ways, these people arrive under false pretenses, or via (numerous) other States before they land here.

As I've said before, by that very first act they demonstrate that they do not respect our laws or borders and are prepared to take whatever actions they can to achieve their aims. It's bad enough that we have our own native cohort of such people, but we are under no obligation (international, moral or otherwise) to accept even more chancers and law-breakers into an already creaking (if not already broken) process/system.

As the most recent poll shows, three quarters of the population recognise this and understand that Ireland has become a target and soft touch for these people. I can only hope that the same number aren't taken in by the somewhat frenzied and desperate reaction from Government in the last few weeks and months as they've tried to do a 180 turnaround on their previous positions, which is only a response to the threat of their members losing their seats or not getting a spot on the gravy train in the upcoming elections.

Even more hollow are the continuing attempts to deflect from the reality of the situation, the gas lighting and goal post shifting from those still advocating for the "cause". It's extremely transparent and pointless - very few are buying anymore thankfully.

Some of the points being raised here around cultural and societal impacts, demographic shifts and the future makeup of our country are very relevant and very real. The same types as above will continue to call this "racist" or "xenophobic" of course, but their bleating is meaningless in the face of the very real changes already underway. Changes that many of us will see the start of, but which our children will have to live with. Changes which we only need to look to our immediate neighbours to see the consequences and outcome of.

No thanks. That's not the Ireland I grew up in, am working to support and contribute to, and want to leave to my son and his children. I make no apology for that, will always advocate for Ireland's needs and interests to come first (only then should we be worrying about others - which still doesn't include bringing them home), and will still call out the issues and obvious sleep walking into further problems that we're doing.

As I've also said folks - do get out and make your feelings and voices heard in the next few weeks and months, and think hard about who you vote for before you make your decision.

We've already seen the shift because of the political fear in FF and FG (not so much the Greens who are determined instead to ram as much of their delusional one-note tax driven ideological agenda through while they can), so changes CAN still happen and be demanded by the electorate - IF we're smart enough to realise it and the consequences of NOT doing so that is!