Pringle: Rise of far-right sentiment leaving minority communities in this country living in fear

Independent TD for Donegal, Thomas Pringle, said the rise of far-right sentiment in the country has left minority groups living in fear, as he slammed a motion on immigration brought forward by the Rural Independent group.

Addressing the Dáil today, Deputy Pringle said: “It is clear to me that this motion has malicious intentions. I see no other purpose here than to stir up hate and division in this country, a shameful and reprehensible pursuit that the rural independent group have been engaging in for a while now. It has gone on far too long and it does need to be called out.

“I would like to highlight the fact that there is a racist element of this motion. The first two lines highlight the fact that the motion relates to ‘non-Ukrainian International Protection Accommodation Services’ and goes to great lengths to highlight that the group does not have issue with Ukrainian migrants, their accommodation or the money being spent on them, which undermines their argument that this motion is about the lack of accommodation and the stretch to our resources, and not about race.”

Deputy Pringle was speaking against the Rural Independents Motion re Immigration.

Deputy Pringle said: “I find it interesting that one of the ‘concerns’ highlighted in this motion is the findings of the Ombudsman for Children’s special report on the safety and welfare of children in direct provision, given that not a single one of the six rural independent TDs showed up to the motion I brought forward on this report last Thursday evening, in which the ombudsman was present. It is evident that the group don’t actually care about the welfare of children in direct provision and are shamefully using this in the motion as cover for their anti-immigration arguments.

“The motion highlights the fact that Georgia was the leading country of origin for applicants in 2022 and that ‘other EU countries tighten immigration laws, while Ireland’s more attractive laws result in “asylum tourism”,’ without acknowledging the fact that visa free travel came into effect for Georgian nationals to 26 countries of the Schengen Area in 2017, with many countries offering work visas. 

“It is disingenuous then to suggest that our immigration laws are lenient while Europe’s are strict, when it is clearly the other way around.

“During a briefing with Traveller organisations yesterday afternoon, I was struck by the palpable fear felt by minority groups right now, by the Traveller community, the LGBTQI+ community, the disabled community and the migrant community due to the rise of far-right sentiment, enabled by the hatred and misinformation spewed by members here and in the Seanad as well.

“You are not nobly addressing people’s fears by tabling this motion, you are facilitating those who are causing hurt and fear in our communities, demonstrated clearly by the very last line of the motion. I will not be supporting this motion and I hope you hang your heads in shame at the division you are causing in this country by putting this forward,” he said.