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

How to you propose to solve the Irish Housing crisis then with 14,000 homeless and accommodate the daily arrivals of dozens of men over the N.I border or in the back of a lorry from France?

I'll be going for an independent in the locals but undecided on Europe so far.

I do know I'll certainly be staying well away from the great anti-immigration swindle, so no votes for the likes of Boylan, McNamara or Casey from me.

He shouldn't have been allowed in here in the first place.

Running with the hare and now the hounds ...

Maybe we could have a new holiday, " Othering Sunday" :)) mind you, having it on a Sunday will be bound to offend somebody of some religion, either because it's on their holy day or because it's not on their holy day. Careful Ted, that might offend the girls ….

Listening to the lady from Simon on the radio yesterday, it is plain that we have lost the ability to even house our own homeless, let alone those from the rest of the planet.

We have a government created crises that has been manufactured by following an ideology based almost entirely on feelings and not practicalities.

It is all very well saying that more housing should have been built, but it wasn't and it still isn't.

Meanwhile we have a shortage for anyone still in the country that will be very difficult to catch up.on and will take many years. Adding more and more people into this mix is just idiotic and not even nearly sustainable.

The idiots who got us into this situation are not going to get us out of it.

And neither are idiots who seem to think that shouting racist and bigot at all and sundry is a viable solution.

Ridiculous lengths posters will go to argue with posters they perceive to be on some 'opposing side '

The man is a criminal wanted in his own country for his crimes, any attempt to cause an argument over that appears very silly.

Perhaps start building large scale social housing schemes, like the state did every other time there was a housing crisis in this country.

Where will the state accommodate the numbers of refugees and undocumented migrants until that happens? Tent encampments is the best these migrants can expect.

Maybe read it again GG, particularly the piece I quoted. They want this property in addition to that which is already being used by government agencies, and for social housing.

Now where else might such housing come from? I'll give you a hint - property which is in the private rental sector, or the general housing market. They are even open to property currently under construction or in brand new developments, or housing that requires refurbishment to be habitable.

And while they may not yet be asking for housing from the student sector, the summer months are upon us and we have already seen last year that there was no hesitation in acquiring traditional student accommodation for the new arrivals.

Also, I think you'll find that I generally link to an article I quote from - if I recall right it's a site requirement and only a portion can be directly pasted. Feel free to check that one with the mods.

I'll write the petulant and personal tone of your response off to a bad day (which is a shame on such a nice one), but next time do read what you're replying to before you jump in with an attitude.

Ah GG. I expected better really.

You ARE aware that the housing market isn't just social, student and government agency right?

There's also entire blocks of apartments in the private sector owned by investment funds, housing estates, and others that people who don't qualify for social housing rely on to keep a roof over their heads too.

They don't need housing already under the control of government agencies or used currently for social housing because they can already use those for the purpose of resettling new arrivals if they choose/are mandated to.

This is a very fluid situation as we've all witnessed over the last 2/3 years as Government have scrambled to address a problem entirely of their own making by renting hotels and other commercial buildings, offering financial incentives to property owners and landlords, and even large scale tented accommodation and supports in places like Stradbally.

If you think that anything with a roof that they have easy access to or control over isn't already under consideration then you haven't been paying attention.

But, there's elections on the way and these must be "dispensed" with first before normal service (as we've seen over the last 2 years) can be resumed on this issue. Only if they get enough of a shock and kicking at the polls is there a chance of the sounds-good-soundbites and tinkering at the edges of the controls currently underway becoming actually effective, and a real conversation on the future of Ireland's level of involvement possible.

The increasing support for independent candidates in the latest polls suggests that many have no faith in the current parties to resolve this or any other of the serious issues facing our country. While this may lead to political changes and potential instability in the short term if the polls translate to results, it will force the big 2 to reconsider their positions if they want to remain in power.

SF are already paying for their stance based on the same polls. FG and FF are a little more savvy than that. They may not like it, just as they didn't with the Irish Water climb down, but party survival and member self interest will always win out. Why else is Harris talking tough on enforcing controls and rules? It's not because he and the others have belatedly realised there's a problem, it's because their political survival is threatened.

Ultimately that's what it comes down to - not assisting refugees, not the Green agenda, not anything else. Pure, basic politics.

I'm not trying to be a smart arse Goldie - I am also a 'lovely girl' btw :) Over the course of your posts you've said a lot of things that show you're what I'd call a 'normal' person .

I'm also what I hope is normal, not a rabid, far-right racist but I am worried about where we are heading and I'm really not happy about the thousands of men descending on Ireland at the moment and the projections of perhaps up to 30,000 of them this year alone.

I don't think you're being entirely fair to Kaiser who is a very intelligent, reflective person and speaks a lot of common sense. He also is far from being a nutjob racist.

On that subject though, I really don't think I or any other Irish person should have to apologise for wanting to live in a community that reflects who we are. It's not 'strange' or weird for an Irish person, a French person, a Greek person to want to live among their own people. I don't think any of us objects to foreign nationals coming here to work or study in moderate numbers. I don't think most of us object to some foreigners settling here permanently. I think we as a people have shown a warm welcome and compassion to the many true refugees who have come here over the years.

And when you look at our history of reaching out to those in need all over the world, we are among the most caring people on the planet. For example for years we were the only people who gave a toss about the children of Chernobyl. I remember a Ukrainian doctor in Chernobyl saying 'It's a miracle - how can so small a country have so big a heart?' I think that's why Irish people now are absolutely furious at how we are being taken advantage of and condescended to, told what nasty, bad, selfish people we are - really and truly adding insult to injury.

Complete bollocks based on our track record of welcoming refugees in the past.

Because we know that a good percentage of those arriving now are not refugees from war perhaps

Most people I know feel that we are being taken advantage of and are reluctant to help now

My big concern is that those in real genuine need are not getting the help because they are competing with financial migrants