East Wall and the Plantations: Ireland and Its New Migrants

Abstract

Seth Barrett Tillman, East Wall and the Plantations: Ireland and Its New Migrants, THE AMERICAN SPECTATOR (Dec. 6, 2022, 10:48 PM).

So the aliens have come, they are coming, and they are very likely to continue to come. They are coming to Ireland—a country with too little housing and high rents by European standards. Even before the arrival of this cohort of migrants, this country was and is unable to house its own domestic poor and vulnerable—especially those with addiction problems who quite literally die in the streets of Dublin and, on occasion, on the very doorstep of the Oireachtas (the Irish national parliament). Moreover, as new (state owned and state controlled) housing stock opens up from time to time, it is alleged that migrants are moved to the top band even ahead of Irish nationals. It is further alleged that this policy was adopted in order to honor international (and, perhaps, EU/European) commitments. In any event, this policy, and the perception of this policy, create friction because it is the poorest and most vulnerable elements of Irish society which lose out—at least in the short run—to newcomers.

Some left-wing Irish political elements have been calling for the seizure of privately owned second and vacation homes, and also the vacant homes of those living abroad—all of which could be used now to house migrants. This policy’s proponents do not clarify what sort of compensation (if any) the owners would receive and who would be responsible to maintain the property as habitable. Whether this policy should be tried or whether it would “work” is something I leave to the Irish demos. What I note is that a few years ago, before this wave of migrants arrived, few (if any) notable voices here were loudly advocating any such policy to house the Irish poor and vulnerable. Similarly, it has been reported that legal exemptions designed to fast track the construction of modular homes for refugees will not be available to Irish nationals. The fact that such policies are now being debated and implemented on behalf of foreigners is a threat to social cohesion. It reduces the Irish poor and vulnerable to the unwanted.