Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín has called for an “Irish Sea border in terms of people” which would see asylum seekers who arrive into Northern Ireland subjected to the same passport controls as Irish airports and ports.
Mr Tóibín said a speedier and more efficient system was needed to “differentiate between those who need help, and those who don’t,” after it emerged that more than 80 per cent of people applying for asylum in Ireland are coming from the UK over the land Border with Northern Ireland.
Speaking at the Aontú Ardfheis in Maynooth, Mr Tóibín said his party wants to see a “respectful debate” on migration and warned that there are “bad actors” around the country who are “seeking to foment trouble” and “harvest discontent” on the issue.
“We are the party that has flagged the issue of immigration in the Dáil before. We want a respectful debate, one of compassion but also one of common sense,” Mr Tóibín said.
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“We believe the Government’s approach so far hasn’t had that common sense element to it at all. Shockingly, we’re seeing around the country at the moment a number of bad actors, I believe, seeking to foment trouble, seeking to harvest the discontent that exists within the State.
“I would urge people to make sure that they do not get involved in any of those actions, to only act peacefully and democratically in the future.”
“But we also need the Government to make sure that they focus on how migration is happening,” he said, referencing that 80 per cent of people applying for asylum in Ireland are coming through Northern Ireland.
He said the only solution to the cross-Border immigration issue is to create “a system which differentiates between those who need help, and those who don’t, that does it in a speedy and efficient time”.
“We have had a situation where we have an Irish Sea border for sausages in this country at the moment. The DUP did not like that, but they were forced to accept it by the European Union, Britain and the southern Government,” Mr Tóibín said.
“We need an Irish sea border in terms of people as well in this country. We need a situation where the island of Ireland is seen as one unit in terms of being able to deal with this issue.”
[ Do Peadar Tóibín and Aontú have their finger on the public pulse?Opens in new window ]
Asked how this would work in a practical sense, Mr Tóibín said it would mean “that people coming on to the island of Ireland have the same passport controls as a person coming through Dublin, Shannon or Knock at the moment.”
“That’s the only practical solution to it. And if you ask me actually, I’d say that we would find friendly ears in London in terms of that solution too because the whole of the western world is dealing with this issue,” Mr Tóibín said.
He also voiced opposition to the proposed EU migration pact, which envisages faster processing times and would require countries to either relocate a certain number of asylum seekers, make a financial contribution or send resources to other countries.
“We need to keep our own sovereignty on this issue. There’s a big movement by the Government to cede sovereignty to the European Union in terms of the European migration pact. We believe that’s a mistake. Nobody knows what the cost of this is going to be into the future,” Mr Tóibín said.
“If we cede this to the European Union, they will make decisions not on the basis of our need, but on the basis of their need as well.”
Mr Tóibín said that his party now has more than 2,000 members, and saw an increase after the recent family and care referendums. Aontú campaigned for a No vote on both questions. The public voted resoundingly to reject both Government proposals.
Aontú has selected 63 local and European election candidates and believes it will be competitive in at least two dozen constituencies.
“There’s no doubt that we’re in with a shout for at least one if not more European seats, which is an incredible thing. And if you look at the polls at the moment, the Red C poll last month, indicated that we were about 5 per cent in the polls ahead of People before Profit, the Green [Party] and the Labour Party,” he said.
“It’s incredible. They have about 183 years between them, we’ve only five. They have millions of years of State funding between them, we have zero.”
He said the ardfheis would focus on “bread and butter” issues such as the cost-of-living and housing crisis.
In his leader’s speech, Mr Tóibín also called for a new “international city” to be built in Ireland.
He said that Ireland is “developing a lopsided city state. Incredibly workers are commuting from Ulster, Connacht and Munster to Dublin. Dublin is overheating. A third of the country is living in a commuter hell, with families travelling up to three hours a day to and from work. And a third of the country is emptying of its young people.”
“Aontú wants to see a new international city built in another location in Ireland. This city may be an existing town or city on the south, west or north west coast of Ireland. We want to front-load investment and infrastructure into that new city so that it grows to a critical mass and starts to draw down international investment in its own right. We want to see it grow to a critical mass that it comes a counter balance to Dublin in terms of spatial growth.”
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