Senior Garda comments on Roma, Dubs, Guinness and Footlocker shoes :)

southsiderosie wrote: »

Yet there are still passport controls at the border. You cannot simply waltz into Ireland. And states can petition to restrict work permits (and subsequently, permission to remain); a few months ago, Spain successfully petitioned to limit labor market access for Romanians.

Also, Irish people have just as equal access to other countries. I wish people would stop acting so put-upon - you all could just as easily go to Spain as Poles could come to Ireland.

And, yes, I am not an EU citizen. But there are a lot of Irish people who rage against open borders, yet seem baffled that, as an American citizen, I (and many others) had a lot of visa problems. You don't just walk into Ireland as an EU system, but the process is straightforward. As a non-EU citizen, it is completely arbitrary.

Perhaps we have crossed wires here. I do not mean we literally have borders which are 'wide open' -controls are retained as a result of the Schengen opt-out, that's a given. On a practical level, they are a mere formality, easily and routinely traversed by EU citizens.

I certainly have no problem with any EU citizen gaining entry to or seeking to reside in Ireland, be they Roma, Latvian, Polish or otherwise. With regard to non-EU citizens, once they meet visa requirements and continue to abide by the conditions set out, they should be let go about their business / study - as it is of obvious benefit to all parties culturally, socially and economically.

I get to the States often on business and have a lot of dealings with both the CBP & the FDA and the associated hoop-jumping can be an unnervingly arbitrary process, as you say.