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

Yes, well that should be the case, but as we know they can be here years before any decision is made, and even then they can be given leave to remain, if not given refugee status.

In an ideal world there wouldn't be asylum seekers present long enough to justify then having a vote.

Perpetrator wasn't Ukrainian wherever you heard that.

Considering we’re dishing out the votes to all and sundry,I suggest we let our Irish secondary school kids vote in local elections once they reach the age of 16. Their community too. Let them have a say in the things they want done in their local area. Probably never happen though.

I think the phrase you're looking for is election interference.

Healy Rae gets €50k a month for one property! 😮

Healy Rae’s Rosemount Guest House received €151,320 for first quarter 2024. This is in addition to the €766,650 the guest house has received in the prior five quarters for accommodating Ukrainians.

The overall national bill for accommodating Ukrainians & IPAs for the first three months of 2024 totals €428.34 million – €4.7m per day

It's the duty of every business to increase the number of customers and increase profits. No point blaming the NGOs for doing their job, it's the government policies that should be focused on.

This is one the of most disturbing things I've seen in our politics for some time.

Last year and again recently RTE had a piece about the graduates of a Migrant Leadership course.

"The Migrant Leadership Academy and Migrant Councillor Internship Scheme are aimed at improving representation and developing leadership skills.

They are also designed to enable the participants to become advocates and voices for their communities and to break down barriers.

The participants, who are migrants and refugees, were presented with Certificates of Recognition during a ceremony at EPIC, the museum in Dublin honouring emigrants from Ireland."

I'm totally against this. I see this as divisive, not inclusive. If you're permanently settled in Ireland (though it's not clear if these graduates are), then you become 'one of us', part of our community. You should work for and listen to everybody in that community, not only people of your race, religion or country of origin. If you want to be Irish, then be Irish. Be what you profess to be.

It's manipulation of the electorate, on an industrial scale. Surely a violation of what democracy is supposed to be? Already prioritised for housing, every fake IPA arriving over the border is now being coached to ensure dilution of the native Irish vote.

Is an NGO really a "business" ? They are supposed to be non-profit, so I would argue not..

I think it is better to focus on the politicians that are relentlessly calling large parts of the electorate far right, rather than anonymous posters.

Early yet with the count but it looks like many politicians that openly despise the electorate are going to be elected. That is interesting, hard to explain for sure but could be down to the very poor alternatives available.

You mean many politicians that despise a very small percentage of the electorate. And they will be elected because a large portion of the electorate despise a small percentage of the electorate becuase of their views. Democracy in action. Love to see it.

They are encouraged to identify as migrants though. It's a bit of a chicken and egg situation. But also, you can be a migrant and a member of Irish society. I don't see why it has to be pitched as one or the other.

Still hard to comprehend that it appears the electorate have come out very strongly in favour of FFG. I thought there was an appetite for change but maybe the choice for change just wasn't there.

This could be a green light to continue current asylum seeker policies and actions.

"They are encouraged to identify as migrants though".

Encouraged by whom? I think there has to be a balance. I trained as a Montessori primary teacher and Dr Montessori's approach 'education for peace' was that we should always focus on what we have in common, not on our differences.

I would say that it's good to acknowledge where somebody is from, but making a song and dance over it is not good. When I was teaching in Dublin, (Ballymun, Cabra and south inner city) I always had a fair number of foreign nationals in the class, usually about 20 - 30%. I had a world map at the children's eye level and the foreign kids would sit on the floor in front of it and have fun pointing out to the Irish kids where they came from. It was very good for the Irish kid's Geography :) 'Teacher, look that's where Karim is from, that's Algeria'.

But on St Patrick's Day, I used to feel for those kids because it's a day of celebration of being Irish and Irish culture. I didn't want them to feel left out. So I'd say, 'Today we're celebrating how lucky and happy we are to live in Ireland. Some of us were born here and our families have lived here for a long time, some of us were born in other countries and maybe we've only been here a few months, but we all belong' and the kids would wag their heads and say with that kind of sagacity that children demonstrate, 'yeah, Adil came from Bangladesh, didn't you Adil, but you belong to Ireland now'.

Anyway, that was how I dealt with it - that and teaching them an Irish set dance :)