Ukrainian refugees in Ireland - Megathread

For sure. It's an always easy get out clause of "the EU made us do it", and a future retirement plan for our bunch of weak, servile politicians.

But it came close to falling apart a decade ago during the Financial Crisis. The upcoming global recession plus the effects of the migration policies pursued by Merkel and now others will bring it down I think.

It'll be accelerated if the UK gets its house in order in the aftermath of Boris and doesn't become a basket case economy, or worse actually improves as the members of the EU deal with the fallout of the above (this is why it was so important that Brexit was belittled at every turn. God forbid anyone would want to leave the club).

But, regardless of all the virtue signalling now, as soon as the colder autumn and winter months set in, Zelensky will be told to do a deal, Russia will hold onto its current gains, and energy supplies will be restored.

Realpolitik and the survival instincts of politicians will always trump ideology and De Feelz. The same will apply to the Green Agenda by the way.

The only real question is how many will suffer, and how much damage will be done in the meantime.

You may be from Galway (I don't know if you are, but that's not relevant) but you'll still consider yourself Irish.

But very few will consider themselves "European" in the same sense. They'll be Irish, German, French, and so on first and foremost. Oh sure, being European comes in handy when it comes to holidays (travel and currency) or working (although I don't personally know many who've gone working in Europe, but lots who've come here) - but none of that is a European identity.

But then, that wasn't the intent. The idea was to create a common economic bond so as to discourage one half of the continent from blowing up the other (again!) and as the EEC, as I said earlier, it worked and served those needs admirably.

But along the way, they decided to try and become the US - except without that common identity underpinning it, and vast differences in the areas I mentioned previously, it was never going to succeed. Just look at other countries across the EU and the protests against various policies being decided upon, supposedly on their behalf. No-one asked for a Federal Europe except the political and corporate interests who stand to gain from it.

And that ultimately, is why it will fail.

More hyperbolic emotional blackmail... wasted on me I'm afraid, but let's counter with some facts...

• No one resents GENUINE (note that word) refugees, from ANYWHERE, but there is only so much we can do as a small island with a lot of serious domestic challenges that successive Governments have been unable (or refused) to deal with
• Most of Ukraine is NOT caught up in the fighting. Given the size of the country it's akin to a localised regional conflict (I could use my NI analogy again but that caused issues for some last time!). Why are these refugees not resettling within their homeland? If the intent is to escape the imminent threat of death, then surely that would be the logical and nearest safe port? Why trek across the ENTIRE EUROPEAN CONTINENT to a small island off the edge of it?
• It's not at all unreasonable to expect those here who can work to do so (Ukrainians, natives and everyone else alike!). It is not sustainable to provide unlimited handouts and preferential access to already struggling services, and again you would expect that most GENUINE (there's that word again!) refugees would WANT to support themselves and indeed, give something back to their hosts for their charity and generosity
• That by the way is exactly the extent of our obligation here - charity and generosity. Ireland is not responsible for the conflict, has already condemned it and offered supports. That is the limit of what we "should" do. Anything beyond is dependent on our ability to sustainably do so. Anything else is not just damaging to the natives, but the refugees themselves

I would suggest that it's not the country that needs to "wake up", it's people like yourself who apparently have no argument or idea on how to provide all this beyond Hopes and Dreams!