SINN FÉIN’S NEW immigration policy document, which is due to be published on Monday, “will bring clarity to everybody in relation to where we stand”, according to Sinn Féin’s Pearse Doherty.
Setting out the “comprehensive” policies that will be dealt with in the paper, Doherty said it will include calls for quicker processing times and the issue of safe return of asylum seekers.
Doherty said the document will also highlight that additional countries need to be added to the safe list.
Earlier this month, Brazil, Egypt, India, Malawi and Morocco were added to the list of states which the government considers a safe country of origin.
Countries being deemed safe means the Department of Justice understands that there is generally no systematic persecution, no torture or inhuman or degrading treatment or no threat of violence from an armed conflict in that country.
While citizens from those countries can still seek International Protection in Ireland, the applications from these countries will be accelerated
In addition to the call for more countries to be added to the list, the party’s immigration policy plan will also set out how Sinn Féin would communicate around the issues.
Speaking last weekend about a review which found that Sinn Féin had diverged from what its supporters wanted in the family and care referendums and on the issue of immigration, Mary Lou McDonald admitted her party had “lost the trust” of its regular supporters and claimed the party had diverged from “where most people are” on immigration.
“We are a party of the working class and the left,” the party leader said on social media this week, but the question was posed to Doherty today that due to their positioning on immigration, their grassroots working-class voters are migrating from the party.
The Donegal TD failed to address the point made, instead stating that the government has failed to increase resourcing so as to ramp up processing times of asylum seekers.
He added that the government by supporting accommodation for beneficiaries of temporary protection from Ukraine, it is displacing others within the private rental sector.
“The government are not properly engaging with communities. And that’s very clear. It’s clear in my own constituency of Donegal when we see communications, being told there is a new centre being opened.
“It’s not a case of engagement, it’s not even carrying out assessment in relation to health needs, the education needs of those new individuals that have come into the community.
“It’s literally, is there a premise available and if there is, the contracts are being signed and after the contracts are being signed, you are being told about that,” he said.
“That is not a proper planned process. It’s not the best way to bring the communities with you,” Doherty added, who said that the vast majority of communities are “very, very fair in relation to these issues”.
“There are small minorities that are trying to exploit the frustration and fears that many communities face and it’s important that we actually get in there and listen to them and have proper dialogue and consultation with them,” he said.
The fallout of the disturbance seen in Coolock on Monday is continuing, with 21 people charged with public order offences and condemnation from the Taoiseach, Justice Minister and across the political spectrum.
The Department of Integration said the site would be used to house up to 500 people on a phased basis, and that protests at the entrance to the site have delayed work beginning for several months.
Integration Minister Roderic O’Gorman has said there was extensive engagement with local community representatives about the plans in recent weeks.
Asked for his reaction to the events in Coolock, Doherty said it was “deplorable” what has been seen over the last 48 hours, stating there is “no place in a modern society” for such violence.
“I know from talking to some of our activists and representatives, there is fear in some of the communities that there was a situation where people weren’t able to leave their homes. They weren’t able to get out of their front doors,” he said.
“There is frustration and tension there which has been exploited by a small number of individuals. It is rightly condemned by all. Our thoughts with the person who has been injured, in particular, and those who had to deal with some of the violence on the streets.
“We also need to move beyond the politics and condemnation and listen to what has happened. We need proper engagement and consultation. I listened over the last few days from some community leaders, people in partnerships, who have made it very clear that there wasn’t a consultation,” said Doherty.
He said he has experienced this in his own county of Donegal, whereby the department sends an email or makes a call about a new international protection centre opening in the area.
Doherty said there is no engagement, stating they have pleaded with the minister for to make people available to go on local radio and engage in a proper way with the communities. “That hasn’t happened,” he said.
“The people of Coolock are a decent working-class community.
“We have to make sure there is no space for those agitators, who in many places, travel from outside and create violence on the streets of Dublin,” he said.
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