THE FACT OF THE MATTER
BY PAUL HOPKINS
Last Friday marked International Day of the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, and in the same week comes a report that the Government is planning major new policies on migrants.
Friday’s campaign was the Immigrant Council of Ireland’s national day of celebration of diversity and inclusion, dedicated to raising awareness about racism and promoting respect and equality in schools, youth groups, workplaces and sporting bodies.
When Russia invaded Ukraine, the support here for Ukrainian refugees was overwhelming. Four years on, the welcome has shifted somewhat off the mat, if Ukrainians seeking a refuge by way of a plea on the social media dedicated pages, and getting no offers, is anything to go by – the racist remarks are revolting. It would seem that migrants, like friends who come to stay in your house, might have outlived their welcome. Such is the capricious nature of charitable endeavour.
Even the Government is now having second thoughts. Migration into the country “must be to the benefit of Irish people”, the new Government document says. In a clear move towards Ireland taking a harder stance on immigration, the report warns that the immigration system “must be founded on respect for the social and cultural norms of Ireland”.
It also cautions that “respect for the rule of law must be a central tenet to maintain social cohesion”.
Last week, a 27-year-old South American male, in Ireland illegally, was charged with several accounts of sexual attacks on girls as young as eight. Despite this, and with its outcry from the Right, based on 2024 data, non-Irish nationals account for only 24.7 per cent of all committals to Irish prisons and are under-represented across all crime categories (10.84 per cent in some studies).
The Justice plan, to be finalised by summer, sets out how the State should approach the next decade after a difficult period in which immigration has become a political and social flashpoint – and has seen a growth in the altRight and in racially motivated crimes.
The 17-page report says the immigration system must be “sustainable, orderly and ultimately to the benefit of the people of Ireland”. An “increase in people coming to Ireland has placed pressures on certain public services, [on] the ability to integrate and increased demand for accommodation within the State,” the draft says.
It also warns that the spending of €2Bn on international protection accommodation is “unsustainable”, with “certain immigration streams [coming] with significant and unforeseen costs”.
The latest data available from April 2024 to April 2025 shows inward migration of 125,300 people – a decrease of 16 per cent on 2023 – with outward migration of 65,000 people resulting in a net inward total of almost 60,000 people.
Many asylum seekers have settled into life in many communities throughout the country. They are contributing significantly to Irish life – diversity and friendship walking hand-in-hand.
There are, however, other considerations – housing and health and schools – to be looked at squarely by the Government departments and by local authorities.
A changing world and changing reference points have been instrumental in mass migration. Ireland is changing too, and not just in terms of our values and social mores. Commentator David McWilliams says there are few better ways to see what the country is going to look like in a generation from now than from the sideline of an underage football match – a “wonderful snapshot” of the different ethnicities living here.
Most refugees dream of finding work, of finding a country that will offer them an opportunity to pay their way. To stand tall. Many have heard Ireland “is good at that”. They, in turn, can be good for us. Migrants benefit their host nations’ economies within five years of arrival, suggests an analysis of 30 years of data from 15 countries in Western Europe, including Ireland. The study, in the journal Science Advances, finds that, soon after a spike in migration, the overall strength and sustainability of the country’s economy improves and unemployment drops. Its conclusions contradict the notion that refugees place a huge financial burden on a country by sucking up public resources.
There’s the bigger picture, too. In the world right now, there are 51.2 million refugees. Earth’s rising population is expected to top nine billion by 2050 and climb to 11 billion by 2100, according to a United Nations report. Feeding that population will require more arable land even as swelling oceans consume fertile coastal zones and river deltas, driving people to seek new places to eke out an existence, climate change now being a reality.
