The Irish are a migrant people. From the 1600s onwards, as many as 10 million left the island, according to the recently published Routledge History Of Irish America (edited by historians Cian McMahon and Kathleen Costello-Sullivan).

Some of those who emigrated between 1600 and 1840 were Gaelic nobles and their entourages, including soldiers. Others were colonial administrators or well-off entrepreneurs and adventurers.

But after 1850, Irish emigrants were more likely to be impoverished. Fleeing the famine, many died at sea. Others often arrived in a state of severe ill-health and poverty, with poor English and traumatised by their perilous journey. They faced fresh challenges and opportunities in their new adopted home. Some prospered. Many didn’t.

They were often met by prejudice, and organised violence, especially in the US, the UK and Australia. Well, that was then. The tide turned in recent decades. Our emigrants are well educated, thanks to the Irish taxpayer. And we accommodate hundreds of thousands of immigrants. Our economy, our health services, our construction sector couldn’t function without them.

Among them are refugees and those seeking International Protection. These immigrants have much in common with the Irish who sought refuge and opportunity in other lands over the past seven or eight generations. Knowing their own history, most Irish people respond with generosity and compassion.

But not all. This year saw rioting in Dublin and Belfast, and arson attacks on buildings rumoured to be for International Protection applicants. Tents appeared on Dublin’s Mount Street and then along the Grand Canal, moving to other sites as they were blocked, over and over again, cat and mouse, mouse and cat. The situation is inflamed by the bad actors who have pitched themselves and their prejudices into the fray.

Groups of thugs attacked the tents. Gardai sources suggest that drug gangs are involved in some of this aggression. As part of a campaign of asymmetric warfare, Russian money is fomenting hostility. While the debate often boils down to guilt and compassion against racism and intolerance, in truth this minimises the complexity of a very thorny issue.

Tents along along Grand Canal

Does anyone seriously have a problem with the necessary and legal immigration keeping our services and enterprises running? No. Or with people coming and going for adventure and experience? Of course not.

Not anyone with a bit of intelligence. Hostility and opposition is mostly reserved for refugees and international protection applicants: that is, for those most similar to Irish emigrants from 1850 to 1980.
Most of the fears that circulate on social media are groundless, but in the 2020s, bullshit can be made to stick.

And to some extent it has. We have seen nastiness and aggression on the streets, outside centres where asylum seekers are housed, and hotels being burned to the ground. There has been inexcusable racist behaviour and anti-social criminality. The Garda response to date has been abysmally inept, but some culprits have at last been hauled before the courts and given long sentences. Sure, the excluded and left-behind are fertile ground for malicious targeting by the far right. The Europe-wide housing crisis feeds anger and a sense of alienation. But lots of disadvantaged, working class people are not racist or resentful of immigrants.

On a sour note, Sinn Féin’s  calculated pivot towards the right on immigration may have shored up support in the recent generl election, but it seemed cynical and wrong.
Where is the proper leadership on the issue? The hauteur and pieties of the righteous – mainstream media and NGOs among them – can be off-putting. It’s all very well occupying the moral high ground, but hectoring and lecturing pisses people off.

It is encouraging that surveys of voters indicate that immigration per se wasn’t a major issue in the general election. But anti-migration propaganda will continue and it needs to be countered by enlightened thinking.

To achieve that we need serious, cross-party, thinking, including the Opposition. It’s okay to acknowledge evident shortcomings in policy and practice to date, while also making a case for diversity and generosity. It can’t remain a binary For/Against debate. It has to be consensus-building and problem-solving.

Most crucially of all, real tangible progress has to be made on housing. Solve that and you’ve lanced more than one boil.

As Christmas and New Year hurtle ever closer – capping off another phenomenal 12 months of Irish music, sport, film, literature and more  – we're thrilled to present the brand new Hot Press Annual!

Inside, you'll find captivating conversations with Fontaines D.C., KNEECAP, Jazzy, LYRA, The Mary Wallopers, Gurriers, Daniel Wiffen, Irish Artists For Palestine and more – all taking us through their highlights of the year. Plus, the HP critics deliver their verdict on 2024 – including all the top albums, tracks, movies, books, quotes, photos and events...