In total, 300 people have already been deported from Ireland this year, twice as many as in the first three months of last year. Compared with its closest neighbors, especially Britain, the number of people coming to Ireland intending to stay and live here is small. Since 1999, the country has received almost 50,000 applications for political asylum. The peak was in 2002, when 11,634 people asked for asylum. True, the very next year this flow noticeably decreased and amounted to 7,900 people.
However, judging by publications in the central newspapers, in a state with a population of four million, immigration is a serious socio-political problem. For Ireland, this is a particularly painful topic with its own history. In the 19th and 20th centuries, huge numbers of people left the country. Irish emigrants, having gone through all sorts of difficulties and often finding themselves on the margins of society, built strong communities in the United States, Britain and Australia. Until the 1980s, young people left home in search of work abroad. And now many Irish people are convinced that their country is simply obliged to give a warm welcome to those who come here to live.
The 1990s were marked by a flourishing and very rapid growth of the Irish economy. In order not to slow the pace, Ireland attracted more and more workers. Only recently, Deputy Prime Minister Mary Harney spoke about the need for an inflow of foreign labor.
It is enough to walk along the central streets of Dublin, Cork, and Galway to notice how the country is changing. It is becoming successful and stable, attracting foreigners like a magnet, mainly from Eastern Europe and Africa. Many previously unavailable goods are appearing in shops, including phones and the latest gadgets. The high level of immigration does not go unnoticed by the local population, and it worries many.
In 1998, an organization called the Immigration Control Platform was set up in the country, which, according to its leaders, is supported by many Irish people. “I firmly believe that the Irish do not want to go nearly as far in immigration as has happened, say, in Britain,” said the Platform’s press secretary, Aine Ni Chonaill.
In recent weeks, the discussion of the immigration situation has come down to the question of the right to obtain Irish citizenship. Dublin gynecological clinics have drawn public attention to the fact that foreign women very often come to the country just before giving birth. The thing is that, according to current legislation, children born in Ireland automatically become its citizens.
Prime Minister Bertie Ahern noted that “very many people abuse” this law: 60% of all asylum seekers file applications while pregnant. And the prime minister intends to close this loophole. More precisely, he plans to hold a referendum on this issue in the country before the end of the year.
Opponents immediately accused the prime minister of pursuing political goals. Professor William Binchy of Trinity College Dublin is convinced that any legislative change will, as usual, affect the interests of innocent people and will not touch malicious violators. Ireland, which for so many years saw its citizens off to foreign lands, should think carefully before deciding how to treat those who now want to move to the country.