Presidential candidate Catherine Connolly has said that she finds the phrase ‘Ireland is full’ in the context of immigration to be “disturbing and unacceptable”.
Speaking during a Morning Ireland debate against her Fine Gael opponent Heather Humphreys this morning, Connolly lamented the fact that 16,000 homeless people were seen as “collateral damage” in modern Ireland.
As previously reported, thousands of asylum seekers have gone homeless upon arrival in Ireland over the past year.
Asked how she would connect with voters who were concerned about immigration and who said ‘Ireland is full’, she said that she found such language “disturbing and unacceptable,” adding that it is “not based on any evidence or any facts,” and that she would tell people who used such language that their “anger is misplaced”.
However, she said she would “listen to people who feel disconnected”.
“When we look at asylum seekers, there’s a conflating of words all the time, that we’re being overrun in our country,” she said.
She pointed to the high number of foreign nationals working in key sectors like healthcare, adding: “We’re actually short of workers. We can’t get workers.”
She said that while she understood the “frustration” of those upset about immigration, “their anger is being channelled to the wrong people.”
“We have a housing crisis and they’re concerned about that,” she said.
“Hotels have been taken over for a very long time, and obscene profits being made by the owners.”
Asked if that justified their protest, she said: “No, no. I’ve already said that I find it disturbing, that kind of language. Absolutely – I’ve no hesitation in saying that.”
She said that when she speaks to people on the ground about this issue, she tells them that their “anger is misplaced”.
Meanwhile, on the same subject, Fine Gael’s Heather Humphreys said “we need people coming into this country.”
Humphreys emphasised how she wanted to be a “President for all”, by bringing “unity” and healing “division” in society. On immigration, she said she wanted to have people sit down and “have conversations” to “break down prejudice and barriers that are being created in our society”.
She said we had to “talk to people” and have “hard conversations”, as was done in the peace process in Northern Ireland, “Because we need people coming into this country – we need people coming in.”
“Ireland is a land of opportunity,” she said.
“They come here, and they are contributing to our health service, contributing to our care services, right across this country.
“But what I can say is, there are those who are coming here seeking asylum. They need to be processed quickly. And if they’re not entitled to be here, they need to be returned. And if they are entitled to be here, then they go through the process. And a lot of them want to contribute to our society. There’s no doubt about that.”
Numerous recent polls have found that a significant majority of Irish people favour a “more closed” immigration policy to reduce the number of people coming to Ireland.
According to one Irish Times/Ipsos B&A opinion poll last year, 59% of respondents favored a more restrictive policy, 19% felt the existing policy was appropriate, 16% preferred a more open policy, and 6% were unsure or had no opinion.