Immigration and Ireland - MEGATHREAD *Read OP for mod warnings before posting*

when you have dithering in terms of M Martin and that imbecile Harris at the helm you can’t expect anything like solutions.

The Dublin protest was marketed as a National Protest - something a poster was only too gleeful to point out a few pages back when discussing last Saturday's event and the numbers that attended it. So, using the same poster's metric of 3.5% of the population - it seems only fair to apply the same metric to the local protest which Carrickmacross fits in to.

(1) Irish returning home

Yes, and when/if we start to get our house in order - we need to be actively encouraging them home.

(2) EU immigrants (* subject to finding job, not being dependent on welfare)

I would add a few rules around this - EU immigrants should not be getting social housing with few exceptions.

(3) limited, controlled student visas for non-EU students

I would really emphasise limited and controlled. Irish students should not be finding competition for college places because some college places are 'for sale'. In addition a law needs to be passed that student accommodation cannot be withdrawn for other uses. A good government would ensure that if a College has 20,000 places, then there should be at least 90% of that number (18,000) of accommodation units owned by the college for the students for a modest rent.

(4) limited, controlled work visas for non-EU workers in specific sectors (health and social care = yes, food delivery = no)

Agreed, however we need to wean off using non-EU healthcare workers as it is immoral that we are effectively pillaging the third world to prop up our health services. Keeping Irish HC workers at home needs to be addressed. Serious overhaul of working conditions and working hours and rostering in the HSE needs to happen.

(5) the amount of 1,000 refugees via the IRRP each year

Perhaps, but is 1,000 more than enough? A lower number would be preferred. Denmark has it around 500 when you remove Ukrainians from their numbers.

I am against the following immigration:

(1) non-genuine AS. The head of GNIB, Aidan Minnock, has confirmed what we all knew already, that the AS are in fact economic migrants. This has been confirmed by two Ministers.

https://www.rte.ie/news/ireland/2024/1230/1488432-migrant-gnib/

Agreed. It shows our current system is being widely abused.

My question is as follows.

Given that I am for five types of immigration, and against just one type, would the media describe me as "anti-immigration"?

Clearly, I am pro-immigration, yet I feel that I would be described as anti-immigration.

Indeed, I would love to see the 100,000 Irish in Australia to return here, to reduce the heartbreak that parents feel.

According to some in this country your one step short of an out and out racist, such is the petty and juvenile retort to your overall fair and balanced stance on the immigration issue. But, hold your head high - the issue isn't your stance.

Dan O'Brien is very much at the Reform UK / GB News end of the scale as far as economists go (he's let slip in the last year that he sees himself as right wing and has no time for 'lefties'). He's perfectly entitled to his opinion and to have a platform, but he would be out of step with probably the majority pf economists in terms of solutions to societal issues.

No I was talking about the Letterkenny protest of course. 1 k.

Haven't heard about Carrickmacross . You could apply the whole population of Monaghan I suppose ?

65,288 ÷ 800 ....not very significant either , sorry .

Think already discussed but a counter protest is never as large as the protest scheduled for reasons of mobilisation .It's usually just a reaction and therefore never expected to be large.

Wouldn't want to steal anybody's thunder now 😁 or is that just a damp squib ?

Yes he was practically gloating after the crash and salivating at the thought of the austerity being imposed on everybody .

Bit of a prxxx iirc.

But some on the right love a bit of hard talk and punishment I believe .

Yes. A protest is a protest and people tend to show up.when needed. Fair dues to those that did turn out for the counter though but would imagine most people were not aware that those marching in Dublin were anything other than a few people waving flags on a sunny day ..

I've no issue at all with O'Brien putting forward an alternative viewpoint on what we should do in future and having a platform to do it, but his views would probably be seen as 'controversial' by a majority of economists. It sounds nearer to what the likes of Reform UK and the Daily Mail would be saying about immigration.

People can't travel to Monaghan?

Everyone here is so confident it's not an issue that it's getting discussed constantly.

So the immigration system is fine as is?

The fact that the government themselves are taking (slow) steps to change it doesn't make a mockery of that position?

Taking issue with immigration does make somebody far right.

Until that seemingly very tricky speed bump is negotiated by those on the left they simply won't grasp why people are protesting to begin with.

How can somebody look at that situation and think that the only motivation anyone could have is simply xenophobia?

I know the left have trouble making distinctions beyond simple black and white, shades of grey are some sort of far right conspiracy theory to them it would seem but it's starting to feel like they're just intentionally ignoring the most obvious reasoning that anti immigration protesters are likely to be following.

So are you of the opinion that not every at an anti immigration protest is a far right thug or a racist?

I can only do that if you clarify your position but answering my question.

Indeed. An impasse of your own creation.