By Conor Humphries
ROSSLARE HARBOUR, Ireland (Reuters) – In a poster placed next to three hotels filled with asylum seekers and Ukrainian refugees, residents of the small Irish town of Rosslare Harbor send a clear message to the government: “Enough is enough.”
Their peaceful and carefully orchestrated campaign against the use of a fourth hotel to house hundreds more asylum seekers could not be more different from the campaign of anti-immigrant activists who helped incite a riot in Dublin in late November.
But both underscore a troubling reality for the Irish establishment: immigration is now firmly on the political agenda and is likely to play a major role for the first time in national elections in early 2025.
“Will this cause anti-immigrant or far-right parties to gain traction? Yes, I believe that will happen,” local residents group chairman Bernie Mullen said of government policies on resettling arrivals in small towns without consultation.
“There will be a backlash in the election, and that’s their fault.”
Ireland is almost the only country in Europe without a significant far-right political party, and the country’s pride in its immigration history has created a taboo on anti-immigrant rhetoric.
But that taboo has begun to soften since the arrival of almost 100,000 Ukrainian refugees – the highest number per capita in Western Europe – joining a record number of asylum seekers and a multinational workforce amid a crippling housing crisis.
The most striking sign of change was the Dublin riot, which triggered a wave of violence and looting when a small group of far-right activists attacked police following the stabbing of three young children by a man described by Irish newspapers as Algerian-born. Police declined to comment on the identity of the suspect.
But there has also been a change in political discourse. Prime Minister Leo Varadkar told parliament in October that the country had reached “the limit of our capacity” to host asylum seekers and refugees.
Varadkar announced Tuesday that he plans to reduce allowances for newly arrived Ukrainian refugees using state housing from 220 euros a week to 38.80 euros ($41.90) and impose a 90-day limit on the amount of time they can stay in state-run housing.
WHATSAPP MOBILIZATION
In early November, news broke that plans to convert the long-closed Great Southern Hotel in Rosslare Port into a nursing home to provide accommodation for asylum seekers had been cancelled.
Organizers say a WhatsApp group set up at 11am had 700 people by lunchtime; They are angry both at the loss of the nursing home and the arrival of hundreds more refugees in a town of about 1,200 people that already houses more than 300 people.
“People can’t deal with this… Where are they going to go to school, where are they going to get medical care?” Mark Doyle, 47, said he was standing next to the oil barrel fire at one of four pickets posted 24 hours a day around the hotel.
The government ministry responsible said it was “still considering” using the site for asylum seekers but did not answer the question of how many people could be accommodated there. Wexford County Council said 170 people would be accommodated in 44 rooms, but did not specify how many people would be accommodated in the remaining 65 rooms and flats.
A spokesman said Integration Minister Roderic O’Gorman was “in no position to refuse any offer of accommodation given the acute shortage”.
Organizers have repeatedly emphasized that the town warmly welcomed the first refugees and asylum seekers and insist they are not against immigration.
Another organiser, Niamh Dennis, said: “We are doing everything we can to avoid bringing negative attention to ourselves.”
In some communities across the country, similar campaigns are beginning to resonate in parliament; A group of independent members here put forward a motion last week calling for restrictions on asylum seekers and an end to “unrestricted” entry into the country. immigration”. The proposal was met with an angry reaction from the centre-right coalition government and the main opposition parties.
A ‘LESS LIBERAL’ IRELAND
Census data shows Ireland’s foreign-born population has doubled to 20% in 20 years, and opinion polls reveal no anti-immigrant sentiment.
But in the past two years, immigration has become the third-biggest issue among voters, with the share of people concerned about it rising from 4% to 24%. This leaves the country only behind concerns about housing and the cost of living, according to a December 3 survey by Ireland Thoughts.
Nearly 28% of respondents said they would consider supporting a party or candidate with “strong anti-immigrant views,” which is twice the 2021 level.
Kevin Cunningham, a lecturer in politics at TU Dublin who helped compile the survey, said Ireland was now “a little bit less liberal than it used to be”.
For the upcoming elections, shifts in the middle ground are likely to be more important than the smaller far-right movement.
Opposition Sinn Fein has steered clear of any criticism of immigration policy but appears to be losing votes to the relatively large number of independent members of parliament, the main lightning rod for discontent.
While Cunningham does not expect a collapse in Sinn Fein’s wide lead in the polls, a rise in one in eight seats won by independents at the last election could complicate the left-wing party’s ambitions to lead the government for the first time.
Local independent councilor Ger Carthy, who represents the area around Rosslare Port, said no one represented local voters who were “very offended… very angry”.
“Nobody has the political will to say we have to stop,” he said.
(Additional reporting by Padraic Halpin; Editing by Alison Williams)