Despite claims that the Government is in an “immigration war”, one campaigner argues Irish people are “positive” towards immigrants. 

Gript Editor John McGuirk published a piece yesterday arguing the Government is “at war with its own people” over its approach to immigration and asylum seekers. 

Speaking on Newstalk Breakfast this morning, he noted this was something said to him when discussing immigration. 

He said protests outside properties earmarked for asylum seekers proves people are opposed to Government policy. 

“It feels like the Government is at war with us because we have no recourse,” he said. 

“Use the example of planning permission not being granted for 1,500 apartments in Dublin last week because local people were able to object. 

“But in [using premises for asylum seekers], local people have no ability to object, or their objections are trampled over. 

“This is why the public is so passionate out there – it feels like people are, in the words of the person from Roscrea, at war with their own Government.” 

'Fourth most positive for immigration'

Political commentator and campaigner Emma DeSouza said to describe immigration policy as a ‘war’ is really inappropriate "considering what we're seeing in Gaza and in Ukraine".

“But just to go in the context of the of the issues here, people in Ireland remain largely positive about immigration,” she said. 

“We can see that because Ireland is ranked fourth most positive in terms of support for immigration within the EU 27 and the UK.” 

Ms DeSouza did acknowledge that Ireland “does need to have a more human-centred approach to immigration”. 

“[Asylum seekers] cannot live independently, they’re placed in Direct Provision and given €38.80 to survive – I don’t know how many of us could survive off €38.80 a week.” 

She also said the Government needs to tackle “misinformation” and emphasise the benefits of immigration to Ireland. 

“Migrants contribute an annual amount estimated at €3.7 billion to the economy through taxes, through PRSI, through work permits and integration fees,” she said. 

'It's simple mathematics'

Mr McGuirk agreed Ireland has been “historically positive towards immigration”, citing attitudes towards Eastern European immigrants in the early 2000s as an example. 

“But we’ve seen opinion poll after opinion poll,” he said. “Somewhere between 60% and 80% of people believe we have taken too many migrants. 

“This isn't a matter of race or bigotry - this is a matter of simple mathematics.” 

Ms DeSouza said the Government does need to address how it processes asylum seekers, so people aren’t spending years in tented accommodation as they wait for their application to be approved or rejected. 

She argued, however, that anti-immigrant sentiment runs deeper than mathematics. 

“There’s a socio-economic factor here,” she said. “The far right weaponises inequality and there are significant class issues that do persist in Ireland. 

“There's a danger if the Government does not address the undercurrent of socio-economic deprivation. 

“It does have to do something about those factors but also tackle that misinformation.” 

Some 13,227 people applied for asylum in the State last year down by 400 from the previous year. 

Main image: Gardaí monitoring protestors at an anti-immigrant demonstration in Dublin, 05/02/2024. Image: Sasko Lazarov/© RollingNews.ie