AS I SEE IT
MARIANNE HERON
Some of us have an unfortunate habit of thinking backwards rather than forwards, where ideas remain rooted in the past rather than looking forward to the future, especially when it comes to certain subjects.
Top of the list of those tricky topics is immigration. We need better communication about this as Leo Varadkar has said, after the hotel in Oughterard, due to house asylum seekers, was torched last month. Quite, but we need clearer thinking too.
The question is can we welcome migrants who are refugees or asylum seekers with the dignity they deserve? If we can’t then we should stop taking them in. Ireland has never opted in to the obligations of the European Asylum system. Leaving aside the moral issues, if the political will is there the Government is free to close the doors in a situation where it is no longer able to cope effectively.
If we want to do the right thing by people fleeing war and persecution then we need to do it properly and we could with better management. But the present situation, where refugees allowances are to be cut; where they can only be housed for 90 days; where asylum seekers face a six months wait; are not allowed to work; live on €38.80 a week allowance and are placed in large numbers in small communities or put in harm’s way sleeping on the street in tents is neither welcoming nor dignified.
Our obligations may change soon though, if Ireland opts in to the new measures under the EU Migration and Asylum Pact published in Christmas week and welcomed by Justice Minister Helen McEntee. This will make the system fairer and more balanced, regulate secondary migration and, among other things, speed the processing of asylum claims and the return of unsuccessful applicants.
Let’s be clear though, that we need immigrants in this country, we have full employment, yawning skill shortages and we need the benefits that migrants bring. These include the way their contribution boosts the economy; the way they contribute more in taxes than they gain in any benefits; and that they are prepared to do the kind of work that Irish people will not. Migrants now account for 70% of the increase in the labour force in Europe.
The tide has turned from the days when the only migrants were those leaving Ireland and the only people of colour here were students. We are multicultural, with 20% of the population not Irish born. Many migrants from outside the EU come here on work permits – 18,367 this year – working in areas like healthcare and IT and where they have to be earning at least €30,000 a year. We couldn’t do without them.
Then there is the issue of unity. A majority in the South are in favour of putting the country back together again, a majority in the North aren’t. We may dream back a century to unite the four green fields but we are iffy about moving forward to deal with the realities of change.
We may consider things like a new flag or national anthem for a united Ireland but how about putting our own house in order first before taking on the responsibility of the Six Counties? We have a housing crisis, a dysfunctional health system and serious underinvestment in public services which aren’t fit for purpose.
While there will be advantages to unification there are the financial implications of the ‘poor old North’, once twice as rich economically as we were and now, but post Troubles, twice as poor.
Once a net contributor to the British tax take, it now requires a subvention from Britain of nearly €10 billion, minus a few items like UK defence spending. The North’s vaunted NHS has even longer wait lists than ours and over half the workforce there are in the public services sector. There are the obdurate Unionists to be won over if we are serious about unity. Even a bait of €3.2 billion hasn’t yet been enough to tempt Jeffrey Donaldson and the DUP back into power sharing.
Also given the way warfare has changed should we still stick with the position we adopted on neutrality back in the 1930s? There are threats like covert sabotage or sabotage of the vital data cables off our shores. A bit embarrassing, to say the least, that we depend on other countries to defend us and that Cork fishermen have more than once seen Russian ships lurking offshore.
We shouldn’t be ruled by our history.
