Govt’s migration communications strategy described as a ‘dog’s dinner’ at FG party meeting

Immigration

Varadkar said he wanted a migration system that is welcoming and fair but also firm.

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A MINISTER OF State has spoken of plans to provide the town of Roscrea with a “community-owned hotel”, after locals in the town protested against a local hotel being used to house asylum seekers. 

Speaking on Prime Time last night, Thomas Byrne said there’s “an agreement in principle” in Government to give the town a community-owned hotel.

He said there is already a working model of this up and running in county Monaghan, and that it is designed to give the town the “type of facilities” that a hotel offers.

“There is a genuine issue about the hotel, which can hopefully be resolved now,” he said. 

When pressed, Byrne said that the Minister  of Integration has listened to Cllr Jack Cahill and other local reps and is in talks about providing a community-owned hotel, but he would not go into any details about a potential building purchase. 

A second hotel in the town has not been used since 2013. 

The Minister reiterated that protesting against women and children asylum seekers arriving in the town is “wrong”, and not something he would “personally do”. 

The Government’s communications strategy on migration has been described as a “dog’s dinner” at Fine Gael’s first parliamentary party meeting of the new year.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar came under pressure from a number of TDs and senators in his own party yesterday who raised the issue of migration, with some criticising the lack of a government plan for sourcing accommodation for asylum seekers across the country.

Questions were also asked of Varadkar as to what was the delay in rolling out the government’s new communications plan.

Senator Martin Conway, who described the communications strategy on migration as a “dog’s dinner”, said it is “utterly frustrating” that ministers continue to say that communications is going to improve. 

He said it was not good enough that people like Senator Sean Kyne would get an email on a Thursday to say that there is going to be international protection applicants arriving to a facility the following Monday.

“That’s not communication, that’s not being fair, that’s not learning the lessons that need to be learned,” Conway told the private meeting yesterday. 

“We have been promised and promised and promised a communication plan… I haven’t heard it. I haven’t been told what it is,” said Conway.

He said the “whole thing is out of control and we need to pull it back very, very quickly”. 

“We are losing Paddy and Mary Reasonable,” he said, stating that the ordinary public just want transparency.

Integration Minister Roderic O’Gorman confirmed to The Journal before Christmas that the Department of An Taoiseach is carrying out a body of work to tackle misinformation and to explain clearly what happens when someone arrives into Ireland seeking asylum. 

Conway said he believes it is the “right thing to do” for government to accept the responsibility of accommodating men, women and children that seek asylum.

“Whoever they are, they are human beings,” he said, adding that he could not understand the “flip-flopping” on accommodation centres that were intended to be used for men and suddenly a change of use meant they would be used to accommodate women and children.

He said there are issues around local services in areas that need to be addressed, telling his party colleagues that issues have arisen where there has been a “rigmarole” in getting an extra prefab in a school to accommodate the additional children attending.  

“I don’t agree that this country is full, it certainly is not full, but some of the services are full and some of the schools are full, and some of the medical facilities are full,” he said. 

Other speakers at the meeting included Minister of State with responsibility for Office of Public Works and the Gaeltacht, Patrick O’Donovan, who told the meeting that people are “worried and stressed over this”. 

“That does not make them bad people, it doesn’t make them racist, it doesn’t make them right-wing xenophobic Nazis. And I think we have to be careful that we don’t finger wag at them,” he added. 

He said people are “cheesed off” because they feel they are not being listened to.

“It is a huge problem,” added O’Donovan. 

Varadkar told his party members that he will always make the case that migration is a good thing for Ireland in the round.

“Were it not for migration, we would not have the public services we have or as strong an economy,” said Varadkar, who added that he wanted a migration system that is welcoming and fair, but is also firm with those who try to come here illegally or take advantage of Ireland’s generosity.

The discussion yesterday took place against the backdrop of scenes at Racket Hall Hotel in Roscrea yesterday where 17 asylum seekers – understood to be three families with young children – arrived to receive shelter in the hotel.

A demonstration numbering up to 300 took place yesterday evening, with protestors staying at the scene overnight. 

Crowds gathered to hear speeches by local activists, while far-right agitators arrived to speak to locals at the hotel’s entrance, repeating many anti-immigration tropes around population replacement and so-called ‘plantations’. 

Scuffles broke out yesterday between some protestors and gardaí as asylum seekers were arriving at the hotel. 

Cabinet today discussed the need for a special support package for certain districts that have accommodated the high numbers of asylum seekers. 

While the fine detail of the plan was not discussed, it is understood there was buy-in from all ministers that more needed to be done to support communities. 

Separately, a number of concerns were raised at the Fine Gael meeting today relating pressure on small and medium businesses, particularly with Revenue calling in taxes that were warehoused during the pandemic. 

Concerns were raised about whether the restructuring warehoused debt repayments would go far enough for business, with many telling the Taoiseach today that it is a huge issue on the ground locally.