I so often disagree with Fintan O’Toole, it’s important to acknowledge when he speaks the truth. – in this morning’s Irish Times, truth to power. He’s talking about immigration, and the noises Simon Harris is making about immigration, in an effort to distract attention from the major cock-up that was Heather Humphreys in the presidential campaign. Fintan lists some important statistics.
“Just over 125,000 people came to (the Republic of )Ireland in the 12 months up to April this year. Of these, 31,500 were Irish citizens returning from abroad. Let’s assume that these Irish returnees do not count in Harris’s “too much” – so we’re talking about an annual influx of around 94,000 migrants from other countries.
On the other side of this equation, 2,403 deportation orders were signed in 2024. Of these 1,116 people departed the State, mostly voluntarily – so 1,287 people were, in Harris’s terms, “told they do not have a right to be here” but failed or refused to “leave the country”.
Which means that the failed asylum seekers in the South consstitute less than two per cent. Which means that Simon Harris is pretending there’s an immigration crisis when there isn’t.
Give us a break, Simon. There are enough swivel-eyed loons running around waving tricolours shouting”Ireland is full!” For the Tanaiste to join them,in contradiction of the facts, is to point to a paper tiger when you’ve just come from getting your arse whacked by a hapless presidential election. Distraction politics is an old and grubby game.
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