Irish Immigrant Nation and Racism

national | rights, freedoms and repression | opinion/analysis

Thursday October 14, 2004 23:40

by Michael Hennigan - Finfacts.com

There is a significant minority who oppose non-white immigrants. The asylum system shambles is used by some to paint immigrants on work permits as spongers.

Based on both polls and extensive anecdotal evidence, it is useful when discussing attitudes to immigration, to accept that there is a significant minority of Irish people who are opposed to immigration by non-whites. The percentage may well be in the range of 30%-40% of the population. This group of people comes from all sectors of society and vary from hard racists to individuals who pine for the simpler days of a one- colour Ireland.

I met a countrywoman near Dublin’s St. Vincent’s Hospital recently anxiously enquiring about buses into the city centre. Her neighbour had told her that the bus drivers are of no help because most of them are foreigners. The neighbour was mistaken and I would put her reaction on the benign spectrum of attitude to non-white foreigners.

What is striking is the passive reaction of Irish people to the revelations of extensive corruption while the claims of immigrants milking the system evokes such a response of indignation. The RTE exit poll during the citizenship referendum where 36% said they had voted because 'the country is being exploited by immigrants,' is worth highlighting again.

Economists say that Ireland needs immigrants to maintain economic growth. Nevertheless, when arguments are made about benefits paid to immigrants, there is seldom a differentiation made between legal immigrants on work permits and asylum seekers.

Change from Emigration to Immigration

In the 1980’s the then US Congressman Bruce Morrison led a successful effort in the US Congress to have special visas issued to Irish nationals many of whom were working illegally in the US. Some 48,000 were granted these visas. This was a great help to Ireland during a period of high unemployment. It wasn’t that the American economy needed our people compared with Indians, Malaysians etc. Morrison has said that many of the former ‘illegal aliens’ have become US citizens.

We became an immigrant country in the 1990’s and the following shows the increase in asylum applications as the Celtic Tiger took off:

Year Total
1991 31
1992 39
1993 91
1994 362
1995 424
1996 1,179
1997 3,883
1998 4,626
1999 7,724
2000 10,938
2001 10,325
2002 11,634
2003 7,900
2004 2,118 – to June

Recognised as refugees in 2003 1,170; 345 at first instance; 825 at appeal stage

Recognised as refugees 1994 - 2003 5,600

Unsuccessful applications 2003 2,410
Deportation orders effected in 2003 590
(less than 25% of those who received a deportation order)

Backlog of unprocessed applications at 31/12/03: 7,390 ; 4,554 first instance ; 2,836 appeal

Dispersal and Direct Provision

At 31/12/03, 5,500 asylum seekers were resident in 63 centres in 24 counties in the Republic.

In 2003, the statistics for Work Permits were as follows

47,551 21,965 -New Permits; 25,039 –Renewals

In an interview in the Irish Times last April, Bruce Morrison referred to the Republic's asylum and immigration system as "hopelessly inefficient."

As legal immigrants will form the bulk of immigrants in future years, including Eastern European citizens of the EU, racists will continue to view them all as part of the asylum process.

The figures above show that 5,600 were recognised as refugees compared with about 59,000 applications. As only a fraction of those refused asylum are deported, it is clear that the Government’s administration of the process is a shambles.

As to the bar stool experts’ view of the gilded services on offer for asylum seekers- on arrival accommodation is full board, which includes bed, breakfast, lunch, and evening meal. Each adult receives a personal allowance of 19.05 euro per week and 9.52 euro for each child plus child benefit. There may also be assistance towards clothing cost.

The annual cost of the asylum service in Ireland is about €350 million.

This is what Bruce Morrison said in a speech on immigration to a conference last December:

‘Being a destination country is an honour. You do not get to be a destination country until certain things are true about your society--prosperity, a general sense of openness and confidence, respect for democracy and human rights. These traits make it worth trying to get into such a country. I used to say during the Cold War that there were two kinds of societies in the world: the ones you needed a visa to get into and the ones you needed a visa to get out of. And the list of the first group was short but really quite elite. It is very special to have people line up at your door because they want to visit or stay. That is how people vote with their feet about what kind of nation you are. So when Ireland joined the list of destination countries, it graduated from problems of the past to problems of the future. But those problems of the future are problems of success. And we should all want to have those problems to confront because it means we have the resources to respond and solve them. So this is a happy day.’

So the asylum issue should be resolved to avoid other immigrants being stigmatised. For some who shrug their shoulders in response to revelations of massive tax evasion and corruption but who make a big issue of the cost of the asylum process- 25% of what we received in cash aid from the EU in 2003, it is reasonable to question the motivation.