Last night on RTÉ’s Upfront programme, Roderic O’Gorman of the Greens, who was, of course, the Minister for Integration with responsibility for asylum for the outgoing government, was strongly challenged on his insistence that an open immigration system was required for Ireland.
It was a reminder that at the start of this year O’Gorman responded to the startling increase in asylum applications in the previous two years by predicting that 15,000 asylum seekers would be the “new normal” the State could expect in the coming years. As we now know, its more likely to be closer to 18,000 for 2024, even as the number of homeless people and tents across the city continues to rise.
That situation was wildly exacerbated by the pull factors which were also discussed on the programme, such as Ireland being hugely “out of kilter” with payments to Ukrainians and other factors. It was a reminder of the infamous tweets on asylum provision issued by Roderic O’Gorman in 8 languages in 2021, and it prompted a lookback at what actually happened after those tweets – which told the world what a soft touch Ireland was – went out.
The results of that review are stark but unsurprising, and show that the populations specifically targeted by using multiple languages largely responded by coming in to Ireland in huge numbers – often coming from countries now designated as safe even by the Department of Justice.
THE TWEETS AND MORE
An audio recording of Roderic O’Gorman speaking to a constituent regarding the infamous tweets he posted has been widely shared on social media. It would be absurd for anyone in the Greens, not to mind the person who was responsible, to argue the content of the tweets since they can be seen here (the internet never forgets) – the tweeting out of an Irish welcome in Georgian, Albanian, Arabic, Somali, Urdu, along with French, Irish and English.
O’Gorman told Independent TD, Carol Nolan, in response to a parliamentary question, that those languages were chosen because “these are the most common languages spoken by those who were residing in Direct Provision accommodation at that time”.
So what did the Minister for Integration tweet about so energetically? Well, he was telling the world about the marvellous new plans – which he credited to the Greens but which were the responsibility of the entire Coalition government – which would revamp the system in relation to services for those coming here to claim asylum.
Those plans promised housing for migrants claiming asylum – going as far as to say own door accommodation would be provided – within four months of their arrival. Medical cards would be available, and dentistry, mental health and other services, even though the waiting lists for all those services has now become preposterous and even life-endangering for Irish people, while a lack of housing is driving young people in particular from the country.
Then then Minister also promised that a plethora of taxpayer-funded NGOs would be there to assist with everything from getting a driver’s licence to a bank account to work permits. The video accompanying the tweets and the other promotion of O’Gorman’s message was exuberant and upbeat in explaining a new system tem that “served the needs” of applicants and offered ‘wraparound supports’. Amongst those supports would be adequate healthcare, English language supports, accommodation, and other supports to live “independently in Ireland.”
It’s blindingly obvious what a pull factor all those promises made in February 2021 were. If you are an economic migrant coming from Georgia, or someone wanting to leave Nigeria, obviously Ireland was now a very attractive proposition.
So what was the response?
NUMBERS SURGED
For the first 4 or 5 months of 2021, due to lingering Covid restrictions and fears, asylum numbers remained low. Then, in June, they climb started. The numbers arriving soon began to outstrip 2020 – and the top two nationalities listed each month in the second half of 2022 with increasing regularity were Nigeria and Georgia.
The official language of Nigeria is actually English – one of the 8 languages, along with Georgian used by the then-Minister to tweet the welcome news for asylum seekers. Neither country was then, or is now, experiencing a war.
By June 2022, the numbers of people arriving from Somalia was also climbing rapidly, as was Algerian asylum applicants. The tweets had been sent in Somali and Arabic.
In 2023, the numbers surged again, with a pattern of large numbers coming from Nigeria, Somalia, Algeria, Georgia, and Afghanistan according to statistics from the International Protection Office. By 2024, significant numbers from Pakistan – where Urdu is spoken – were also arriving.
But the data from IPAS, the International Protection Accommodation Services, reveals more. In October 2021, the earliest report for that year available on the IPAS site, there were 1,196 Nigerians being accommodated in asylum centres in Ireland, 551 Georgians, 432 people from Pakistan, 367 from Somalia, and 234 from Algeria.
By January 2023, those numbers had rocketed to 2,208 persons from Nigeria, 3,101 from Georgia, 585 from Pakistan, 1,886 from Algeria, 1,775 from Somalia – while the numbers from Zimbabwe had reached 1,700 and 991 were in asylum accommodation from South Africa.
This month, on 17th November, the number had ballooned again to 6701 for those coming from Nigeria, while 2,287 were being accommodated from Algeria, and 2,476 from Somalia, with 1,520 from Pakistan, while Georgia had stabilised at 3,175.
So the number of Nigerians in IPAS centres went up almost six-fold, as did the number of Georgians and the number of Somalians, while Algerians increased almost 10-fold and the numbers from Pakistan almost quadrupled.
The ludicrousness of the whole situation can be seen in the page from the IPAS report above where two out of the top three nationalities are now designated safe countries – while all three are, in fact, not experiencing war. Its just ridiculous.
Where was any element of common sense or concern that Ireland and her people might be over-stretched – unable to deal with those who would flock here? Why was the entirely mad decision made that because, for example, we already had a lot of Nigerians or Georgians that those languages should be used to tweet information that would certainly encourage more to come.
So the growth in numbers was unprecedented and, as we can see from the current chaos in the system, completely unsustainable. The increase, in my opiion, shows the effect of the pull factor issued to asylum seekers across the world. Roderic O’Gorman may deny that it was an invitation, but it certainly produced that result.
Yet it was remarkable that the larger political parties – and the Greens – refused last night to take any measures to curb the number of people coming here to seek asylum, even while most of those coming are still not from war-torn counties, and yes, Nigerians continues to be the largest grouping arriving, and yes, Georgians are still inexplicably arriving.
Only a vote for parties and Independents who are willing to take this issue as seriously as we have seen in Denmark or Italy will bring any resolution to the mess we now find ourselves in because of the many pull factors approved by this foolish, arrogant and reckless outgoing government.