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

What's happening in Germany is very interesting. They are finally taken measures to deal with issues over immigration. The reason for this is obvious. Germany is a year from a general election and their political establishment are scared sh1tless of AfD.

In Ireland the situation couldn't be more different. A permanent FF/FG government means the immigration will go on and on.

I did but wouldn't agree with its conclusion that the big jump in asylum claims from early 2022 onwards was because of O'Gorman's tweets. The key factor here was surely the lifting of Covid restrictions and international air travel opening up again. That Times article offers no evidence of any description of a direct link between the tweets and the increased arrivals a year or two year later - they just throw out the proposition that the tweets were posted and asylum claims rose 12-18 months later (when the two mightn't even be linked, we have no way of knowing).

You still haven't named the countries that you claimed are deporting parents for the sins of their children.

So, I'm the one claiming superiority on a thread where people do nothing but talk about how others are traitorous, treacherous, woke Leftie liberals who hate Ireland? Or about how the government is so stupid and there are easy solutions that we just refuse to implement?

I mean, you said it in your own post — you lauded the German proposal and then went on to complain about how lefties make it out to be all so difficult and impossible. That is the arrogance that is inherent on this thread day in day out — the people who disagree with you are just Lefties who obfuscate the easy paths. And you say I'm acting superior, when you summarily dismiss the views of others?

The point of my response to you — which you seem mystified by — was to point out to you that these little measures here and there should not be applauded at every turn because they fail to actually address the fundamental issue at hand. In fact — you haven't even disputed any of the argument I put forward as to why the logic, or at least the effectiveness, of the German proposals doesn't really seem to get us anywhere.

So yes, let's all stop being Lefties who make everything out to be impossible and let's copy the Germans. Let's clamp down on asylum seekers by......offering them food and shelter. That's really tough and that will absolutely deter people.

Ah yes, "virtue signalling" — another term spouted out to dismiss the sincerity or rationale of the views of others. And yet I'm the one acting superior apparently.

Anyway, I find your logic odd here in that you seem to take the view that those who make the migration journey using money for flights etc must invariably be doing alright for themselves if they can afford it. Are we to presume that you just wholesale dismiss the possibility that people save for these flights over periods of time or simply gather the money from somewhere, like wider family, on the basis that getting to Europe etc may well be the primary ambition of their life? For many of them, this will be the one thing they dedicate all their efforts and every penny they own to. You seem to view it almost like its just disposable income they are spending on getting to Europe, when it could well be the case that its their life savings.

Secondly, you also seem to just dismiss the fact that we already know what the major channels of illegal migration into Europe by land and sea are. We know that the migrants using these channels are willing to take enormous risks to follow these paths and clearly do not have the means to take less risky paths.

But in either case, what you don't seem to address is that — whether they have more money or less money, whether you put them in the Shelbourne or the place in Dundrum they apparently aren't happy about, neither situation presents a scenario where there is really anything to lose. You shoot your shot getting to Europe and worst case scenario, after roughing it for however long, you'll at least get fed, watered and sheltered and you'll be somewhere relatively secure. It's not really as tough as it sounds.

Exactly. And at that point, when you actively commence a policy of depriving asylum seekers of any food and shelter, then we will see if the common sense, hard logic Right really is all that different from the emotional, sentimental, woke Lefties — when it comes to sustaining a policy like that over many years.

The flag doesn't belong to the Covid conspiracists / anti-immigration crowd. If they are weaponizing the tricolour and claiming to be more Irish than the rest of us, that is not a good thing.

Once again, people get very excited on this thread about responding to points that were never made. Strazdas never said that people who fly the tricolour are Covid conspiracists or anti immigration — they said the flag doesn't belong to them, based on the very demonstrable fact that tricolours tend(ed) to be pretty numerous at those types of protests etc.

I'm presuming though you'll somehow interpret this post as me calling you a racist or something.

Where are you getting this from though? Who is telling you that being proud of the tricolour is a bad thing?

You say you're proud to be Irish but really the vast majority of Irish people are proud to be Irish — some may simply be less vocal and expressive about it. Some people find the use of the tricolour in certain circumstances to cheapen its meaning or to be a hijacking of it, particularly when it's used in the context of divisive issues. One is allowed to have that opinion without being subjected to some accusation that they think being proud of the flag is wrong.

But yet, that's still the interpretation you take, and it actually backs up what I'm saying here — what you are trying to do is create a mentality where one side is proud to be Irish and the other side is self-hating and detests pride in Irishness. Maybe you aren't even doing it deliberately, and it's part of how you justify your beliefs in your head — you are proud to be Irish and they aren't and therefore your beliefs are more trustworthy as regards Ireland's interests.

And I fear that you will read this and still just believe that you are being told flying the flag is bad.

You're so close to becoming self aware. You're agreeing there's no deterrent for people who choose to come here illegally.

There's an infinite number of these people across the 3rd world. Now do the math and just make that small step that you think is a giant leap.

We need proper deterrents before we get overwhelmed(if we're not already).