An Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, has said that he can’t guarantee that if a large number of asylum seekers move into an area there will not be an increase in crime – saying an increase in population might also bring the possibility of “any social phenomena” increasing.
Mr Varadkar was asked by journalist Barry Whyte of Newstalk to address the issue, with the reporter asking if an Taoiseach could guarantee communities around the country that if 70 or 80 or 90 asylum seekers moved into a hotel or building in their community that there will be “no increase in crime”.
Mr Whyte said he was motivated to ask the question because of attempts on social media to link migrants to crime. In response, an Taoiseach said: “Of course I can’t guarantee that”.
“If the population of any area increases by 2% or 5% or 20% or 30%, obviously there’s the possibility that any social phenomenon is going to increase. Of course I can’t guarantee that,” Mr Varadkar said.
I asked the Taoiseach at a press conference earlier if he can guarantee local communities around the country if 70/80/90 asylum seekers move into a building or hotel in their area, can he guarantee there will not be an increase in crime?
Here’s what he had to say… pic.twitter.com/5uk8HQRE45
— Barry Whyte (@BarryWhyte85) December 18, 2023
Last month, after the stabbing of three school children and their carer at Gaelscoil Choláiste Mhuire, in Parnell Square by a man born in Algeria Mr Varadkar said he “would ask people to try and avoid connecting crime with migration.
It’s not right,” Mr Varadkar told the Dáil. “Yes, of course, people who are migrants might commit crimes, just as people who aren’t commit crimes.”
Today, he said that the Government “must improve communication around migration” and tackle “absolute myths” around the refugee system.
Several small towns in Ireland have taken large numbers of migrants claiming asylum in the past several years. Locals in Coole, Co Westmeath, which has a population of just 500 people are protesting after plans to house 98 asylum seekers in the small village were made known.
In Ballinamore, more than 100 migrants claiming asylum were planned for a village of less than a thousand people. This year, 77 asylum seekers were placed in the Lakelands Hotel in the village of Scariff, population circa 850 people.
Recently, plans to house 950 asylum seekers in the tiny village of Annamoe (population 100) near Glendalough last night was dropped after locals protested.