Ireland has always been a nation of emigrants. We know what it means to leave home in search of a better life, and to build something in a place that wasn't always ready to welcome you. That history should shape how we approach immigration today — with honesty, with fairness, and without scapegoating.
The facts matter here. Most people in Ireland significantly overestimate the number of migrants living here, and overestimate the number seeking asylum. In reality, nearly half of recent non-EU migrants came to work or study. They are staffing our hospitals, building our homes, running our hospitality sector, and paying taxes that fund our public services. Ireland's workforce cannot grow fast enough without them — the Government's own confidential analysis confirms this. Recent research found 65% of people in Ireland see inward migration as positive.
Here is where I stand:
Immigration is not the cause of the housing and healthcare crisis — fifteen years of government failure is. Blaming migrants for overcrowded hospitals and housing shortages is a political strategy designed to deflect from those failures. I will call it out for what it is.
Managed, planned migration serves Ireland well. We need workers in ICT, healthcare, construction, social care, and hospitality. Adding building trades to the Critical Skills list, improving work permit pathways, and planning properly for population growth are practical, responsible steps.
Support integration at community level. Across Ireland — in Carroroe, in Gort, in communities across Galway — people have shown that solidarity and welcome are possible. These community responses deserve State support, not political undermining.
Process international protection claims fairly and quickly. People fleeing persecution deserve to have their cases heard without years of uncertainty. Delays are bad for claimants, bad for communities, and bad for public confidence in the system. A properly resourced, efficient system is both humane and practical.
Address the real tensions honestly. Where housing and services are under pressure, the answer is to build more homes and fund more services — not to reduce the number of people contributing to our society and economy. These are not either/or choices.
Ireland is at its best when it is open, fair, and honest. That is the standard I will hold the Government to.