SINN FÉIN LEADER Mary Lou McDonald has said the government has made a “huge mistake” in how it has communicated with the public about refugees and asylum seekers arriving into communities.
In an interview with The Journal, the Dublin Central TD said she did not believe it is helpful to “repress the conversation” about migration, but added that at all times any debates on the issue needed to be respectful.
Speaking about recent conversations with voters on the subject, she said:
“I think there has to be space for people to ask questions, you see – because I think if we’re not in that space, if we’re saying ‘you shall not speak on this subject’. I mean, what’s that achieving?”
Ireland has seen a surge in migration since the start of the war in Ukraine, with more than 100,000 refugees being welcomed to the country and accommodated since February 2022. There has also been a significant increase in the number of people seeking asylum in the country – with the number of applications reaching 13,600 last year.
Over the past year and beyond there have been an increased number of community meetings, where people voiced their discontent at a lack of consultation about migrants from Ukraine and elsewhere being accommodated in certain areas. During the same period there has been an increase in activity among members of the far right, culminating in violent scenes in the capital on two occasions in recent months – in a protest outside the Dáil and in last month’s Dublin riots.
Asked about the riots McDonald repeated her condemnation of what had happened in the city on 23 November saying it was “absolutely outrageous” and “brought disgrace” to Dublin.
Her comments on seeking a wider conversation on migration come in the wake of a recent Sunday Independent poll revealed that immigration and the far-right are now big issues of concern to the public, coming behind housing and the cost-of-living.
When asked about how Sinn Féin would deal with the rise of the far-right if they were in government and how she would respond to anti-immigrant sentiment if it were voiced within her party, McDonald said:
“We’re a party that is about equality and inclusion, we’re not about discrimination or exclusion of anybody, and the public conversations and politics has to be respectful.”
McDonald said she is being asked questions on the doorsteps about migration issues. The conversation cannot be shut down or dismissed and concerns must be addressed, she said.
The Sinn Féin leader went on to criticise the government’s approach, stating:
“I think the government made a huge mistake in the way in which they brought vulnerable people, sometimes in large numbers, sometimes in the dead of night, into communities, to house them there, without going and saying to the community, ‘listen, here’s what’s happening, here’s who’s coming, here’s why etc, etc’.
“I think that was a huge mistake. The government said no, we’re not giving anybody a veto. Nobody wanted a veto. But what communities do expect is that they are informed if something big is happening in their community, that they’re given notice, that they understand why, that they understand who is coming, and also that they get commitments to the types of resources for basic things like seeing the doctor or having a place in a school.”
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has acknowledged that sometimes people in local communities have “genuine concerns”, but has also noted that communities don’t have a veto over who can live in their area.
“Information and consultation, as I’ve always said, is exactly that; it’s not a veto,” Varadkar has said.
“Nobody gets to say who can and cannot live in their area and we can’t have that kind of situation. But I think we shouldn’t dismiss concerns that people have about their locality.
“People do want to know what’s happening and they want certain assurances, and we’ve a responsibility to do that. But that doesn’t mean that anyone can say that certain types of people can’t live in their area, we can’t tolerate that.”
The government this week announced cuts to welfare supports to new arrivals coming from Ukraine. Speaking yesterday, the Taoiseach also appealed to people who already have accommodation where they are not to come to Ireland seeking international protection, due to a lack of accommodation.
When asked about her concerns about the rise in the far-right and how her party would deal with it in power, she said at the heart of it, she believes the far-right is “feeding off” the frustration people feel around housing.
“I think very, very reasonable, decent, decent people who want to do the right thing, want their government to do the right thing, look at a scenario where they can’t get housed or their children can’t get housed, and they’re under real pressure, I mean, it’s a really big pressure point for families.
“And then they become alarmed at the idea that lots and lots more people are arriving on a continuous basis, then they say, ‘well, how am I going to get housed?’, ‘how’s my child are going to get housed?’.
“I think there is a very ugly political instinct among some to try and weaponise that against vulnerable people, rather than actually addressing that absolute righteous anger to the decision-makers and to the government,” said McDonald, re-iterating an argument she has raised in response to this issue over the last 12 months.
Dealing with the housing crisis is the solution offered by McDonald, who also calls for more investment in community development.
Over the last decade, McDonald claims she has seen a ”stripping back” of investment in things like youth work and community development in Dublin’s Inner City.
“There’s even some people in political life, who can disregard that sort of work, they think it’s sort of airy fairy, but it’s only when you don’t make those investments in communities, when it’s absent, that you really appreciate its full value.
“So we need to invest in our young people, invest in youth work. And we actually have to have conversations again, with our communities and listen to them,” said the Sinn Féin leader.
When knocking on peoples’ doors, McDonald said she is met with “a whole set of questions” about migration, accommodation and how it is being handled.
“I think there has to be space for people to ask questions, you see, because I think if we’re not in that space, if we’re saying ‘you shall not speak on this subject’. I mean, what’s that achieving?”
Last week, there was a Dáil debate on immigration after the Rural Independents tabled a motion on the subject.
During the debate, Pa Daly, Sinn Féin justice spokesperson, said that it was worth remembering that approximately 100,000 people arrived into Ireland last year on work visas, many of whom are staffing nursing homes and hospitals.
Daly added that nation states “can and should manage their borders” and said that Sinn Féin “do not believe in an open border policy” for Ireland.
When questioned about whether she would like to see reforms of the immigration system, McDonald said everyone knows that the system is slow and needs to be better resourced.
“You have to have a rule-based system. I hear sometimes people don’t want this open borders thing – what is that? I mean, nobody has that. You have to have an immigration system and some of that is about kind of ‘controls’, to use the term.
“So you need rules that are transparent, that are fair and then you need the system to be efficient, because delay is a problem for everybody. So yes, can the system work better? Absolutely. Does the system need reform? Absolutely. All of those conversations need to be had.”
During that same debate on migration in the Dáil last week, Integration minister Roderic O’Gorman accused politicians of cloaking themselves “victimhood” when they claim they have been prevented from discussing the issue, adding: “Go talk to an Afghan man or a Syrian man in international protection accommodation. Ask them what government suppression is like.”
There has been much discussion and analysis of Sinn Féin in recent weeks, particularly its decision to table a motion of no confidence in the justice minister, with some calling it a misstep.
Public support for McEntee increased in the wake of the Dublin riots with more than half of people believing she should not resign from Cabinet, according the Sunday Independent poll of 3 December.
The Ireland Thinks poll showed the minister’s satisfaction ratings increased by nine points since the question was last asked in August, while Mary Lou McDonald’s approval ratings fell behind that of Taoiseach Leo Varadkar.
Questioned about whether the motion – which did not succeed – was the right move, in hindsight, McDonald said:
“I think it was necessary. I do, unfortunately. I mean, on the 23rd of November, what happened out on the streets was the first part of the day, the attack outside the school, and then the loss of control of the capital city. I think in light of that, I mean, the most serious question mark arises over leadership, political leadership, generally.”
In the aftermath of the riot, and appearing before the Oireachtas Justice Committee, McEntee defended the response by gardaí on the night, stating that 400 members of An Garda Síochána were deployed on patrol in Dublin city centre, including frontline uniformed gardaí, non-uniformed gardaí and more than 250 public order gardaí.
The minister also outlined that gardaí in Dublin city centre will have access to bodycams from next spring, while government has plans to legislate for the use of facial-recognition technology for CCTV video footage that captures images during riots and violent disorder incidents.
In the same week of the motion of no confidence in the justice minister, McDonald also came in for some criticism for choosing to tweet a photograph of a vulnerable man, drinking from a can, on steps near the school where the knife attack had taken place.
The man’s photograph was subsequently shown in the Dáil, by Sinn Féin’s Louise O’Reilly.
When asked did she have second thoughts about tweeting out the photograph after the criticisms, she said the reality for people who live in that community, including people who are in hostel accommodation and temporary accommodation, is that scenes like that are commonplace.
“But I have to say very firmly, in terms of that school, days after a knife attack, the vulnerable people are the small children, the little people. And what should have happened is that that area, it should have been absolutely minded, so carefully, and anybody, irrespective of who they were, hanging around, or loitering anywhere near that school, should simply have just been moved on, moved on, moved on.
“Because the school community were absolutely traumatised and fearful,” she said.
When put to her that she could have just made that point, in words, rather than showing a photograph of the vulnerable person, McDonald said:
“No, because you see a picture paints the scene much more effectively, and by the way the person’s face was obscured. A picture tells that story.”
McDonald wasn’t the only one to be criticised that week, with the justice minister also coming under pressure for using the word ‘scumbag’ in the Dáil when describing the rioters on O’Connell Street.
Ceann Comhairle Seán Ó Fearghaíl criticised the use of the word, saying he would prefer words like that not to be used in the Dáil. Senator Lynn Ruane also criticised the minister, stating the use of such words sows further division between the State and disadvantaged young people who feel disenfranchised in modern Ireland.
“It’s been raised with me out on the ground, and I think people thought it was a very inappropriate term to use. A lot of people just don’t like that term, because it dehumanises people,” said McDonald.
“To be very, very clear, the scenes of thuggery were simply that, indefensible. I have not met one person who would for one second, one moment defend what happened on the streets, it was absolutely outrageous. It brought disgrace to our city. And I love this city,” she said, adding that she is “absolutely so proud” to say she is from Dublin.
What took place on the night of the riot was “absolutely outrageous”, McDonald said, stating that the responsibility for rioting rests with the rioters.
However, it is the duty and job of the government and of the person who is the Minister for Justice, to ensure that we live in a safe environment, said McDonald – before adding that one cannot mitigate against all threat and danger.
“Our communities and our city have been left desperately exposed for a very long time and on the watch of this government,” said McDonald.
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