Election candidates saying they oppose “open borders” has been “the most dangerous” rhetoric of the European and local election campaigns, Fine Gael MEP Maria Walsh has said.
In an election where immigration has been seen as one of the defining issues, a number of candidates and parties have voiced their opposition to “open borders”, including Sinn Féin.
However, in a statement today, Fine Gael MEP Maria Walsh said that Sinn Féin in particular has “abandoned its open border rhetoric” in the final stretch of the election, describing such talk as “damaging”.
“The party did not mention migration in its local election manifesto, while its European election manifesto drops the damaging rhetoric used by party leadership in recent weeks,” the Midlands-North-West MEP said.
“For the last few weeks, Sinn Féin has been distributing leaflets to every household in the country calling for an end to ‘open borders’.
“Last week, the party published its European election manifesto, and the language has vanished.”
Walsh went on to claim that while “flip-flopping” on immigration had been going on “for weeks”, “The rhetoric on open borders has been the most dangerous.”
Earlier in the campaign, back at the end of April, Walsh previously said it was important to “call out” the use of words like “sovereignty” and “we must protect our borders”, saying this was “right out of the Trump playbook.”
A Fine Gael MEP has said she wants to “call out” language such as ‘sovereignty’ and ‘we must protect our borders’, adding: “I didn't think as a country we would get to this point, but we're here.”https://t.co/Dy7uvfnGSm
— gript (@griptmedia) April 20, 2024
Around the same time, Green Party Minister Catherine Martin said that it was “dangerous” and “feeding into a far-right narrative” to use words like “open borders” and “sovereignty”.
“The language has a lot to be answered for”: Political figures’ talk of “sovereignty” and “open borders” is “dangerous language” that feeds into a “far-right narrative”, Green Party Minister Catherine Martin has warned.https://t.co/OWZ2JDkRQO
— gript (@griptmedia) April 15, 2024