The Government “owes the Irish people an apology” over their “mishandling” of the migration issue, Independent TD Carol Nolan has said.
The comments were made in response to remarks by Integration Minister Roderic O’Gorman today, when he was asked if Nolan deserved an apology for having her immigration concerns dismissed in June 2022, shortly after the outbreak of the Ukraine war.
Speaking in the Dáil at that time, Nolan said she was conscious that migration was “a difficult and sensitive issue” and that people “must tread carefully if we are to avoid blame being targeted at those who least deserve it.”
However, she went on to quote a Fine Gael TD who said that the UK Government’s Rwanda policy was “a runaway train coming down the track at us, and we have no way to stop it.”
“All of this means that Ireland’s capacity to provide even the bare minimum of emergency accommodation and shelter to its own citizens and those genuinely fleeing war is being severely undermined,” she added.
At the time, Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien replied that Nolan’s comments posed “a risk to social cohesion”, which Nolan replied was “outrageous.”
“We will take in as many Ukrainian citizens fleeing the brutal war foisted upon them through no fault of their own as we must – we will not introduce any caps in that regard,” O’Brien continued.
“…What you’re effectively calling for is a cap on immigration and asylum seekers in this country. Let us be clear. I am calling that out. That is what you’re calling for. We will not support that. We will not support a cap.”
Now, two years on, homeless asylum seekers in tent shantytowns has become a common sight due to a critical lack of State accommodation, with the Irish Refugee Council estimating that the number of homeless asylum seekers in Ireland now stands at around 1,800.
Asked today if Nolan deserved an apology in light of all this, Integration Minister Roderic O’Gorman replied: “We have to be clear: we can’t just place artificial caps, because we have international law obligations, and we are doing our best to meet those international law obligations.”
He added: “…I would have a very different starting point on these issues to Deputy Nolan. I certainly don’t think she’s owed an apology, no.”
In 2022 Darragh O'Brien accused Carol Nolan of undermining "social cohesion" because she warned that his government's 'no cap' asylum policy would lead to crisis.
Asked if Nolan now deserved an apology, Roderic O'Gorman said: "I certainly don't think she's owed an apology, no." pic.twitter.com/8qYHzW8XZO
— gript (@griptmedia) May 15, 2024
Responding to O’Gorman, Nolan said that the government owed the general public an apology over the situation, and accused the government of occupying a “humility-free zone.”
“First and foremost this Government owes the Irish people an apology,” she said.
“They have demonised, caricatured and patronised them for long enough.
“When I raised this issue almost two years ago I did so as a representative of all those people who had perfectly reasonable questions to ask about the sustainability of absorbing, potentially, hundreds of thousands of people.
“I wanted to break through the political omerta that was in place at the time and allow those voices to be heard. I think I achieved that.
“Unfortunately, however, at least in terms of public statements, this Government remains a humility free-zone when it comes to acknowledging the disastrous role it has played in mismanaging this crisis.”
She went on to add that the government had adopted a “bystander approach” to a crisis that she said was “entirely foreseeable.”
Gript reached out to Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien for comment on Nolan’s statements, though no reply has yet been received.