“In the interview, Mr Varadkar warned against rising populism and prejudice in parts of Irish society but conceded immigration had proved to be a huge challenge for Irish society.
“The majority of people think that the numbers have been too big in recent years, and they’re right. A country of five million people seeing its population rise by 2 per cent a year, which is what’s happening at the moment, is too fast,” he said before taking part in a debate with former Democratic Congressman Joe Kennedy during his visit to the university.”
TheFreemanLIVES on
Jesus, the lads full of opinions all of a sudden. He should get someone to look in to that for him.
funpubquiz on
Both Varadkar amd Harris had to come out with their racist dog whistles while in America because they know no Irish journalist would accept the crap they are spewing.
If what Varadkar says is true (its not) then him, Harris and the rest of the useless pricks are the problem. They actively allowed this to happen, they deliberately created the mess, they and their cronies are profiting massively from this over the interests of Irish people.
eggsbenedict17 on
The way this man talks about issues in the country as if he wasn’t leading it for 6 years is infuriating
BigMo1 on
All of a sudden he has a pair of balls now that he can’t influence fuck all. A complete fucking melt that man is.
Available-Lemon9075 on
Shows him up for how spineless he is
It’s true what he says about our unsustainable population growth, but he oversaw that and was well aware at the time, he just didn’t have the stones to actually do anything about it
bingybong22 on
He’s not wrong. Something prevented him from voicing his opinions while in power
anatomized on
no they haven’t. the population in general has risen too quickly because they stopped building places to live. the problems in this country is never their (the govt) fucking problem. classic.
RunParking3333 on
Was this only intended for the American audience?
HappyMike91 on
It’s almost like blaming immigrants/foreigners for the housing crisis is viewed as being easier/more convenient than building houses. But that can’t be right?
ronan88 on
If only he had any power to have done something about it over the last 13 years that he’s been sitting a the cabinet table /s
MrStarGazer09 on
Is anyone else sceptical about Fine Gaels messaging on immigration now, given the timing of it close to an election?
Maybe i’m overly cynical but they’ve been in government throughout the migration crisis. They rolled out the biggest expansion of the work permit system in the state just this year after last year’s record immigration numbers.
Their actions and messaging just don’t match up. I think they’re doing this purely for political theatre in the wake of the elections because they know a huge number of people are worried and pissed off about it.
They did similar in the wake of the local elections with asylum seekers. Completely mismanaged the asylum system, and then in the last months before the election, they only just began saying they would start being tough on illegal migration and deporting people without a right to stay.
Brewitsokbrew on
He always did this commentator bit. Like he’s detached from it all and is making observations. Frustrating.
Fit-Courage-8170 on
Correction: we haven’t moved fast enough to upgrade our infrastructure to accommodate increased population the economy needs.
We just don’t move fast enough.
such_is_lyf on
I thought we got rid of the burden of having to listen to this c*nt
Stokesysonfire on
Ah but there will still be lunatics who believe Ireland should let anyone and everyone in regardless of their intentions, history, age or skills.
FG seem to universally accept that immigration is too high. I’d love if a journalist actually questioned them on what their proposed solution is rather than the debate being completely hijacked by how bad the far right is.
Will they cap the number of Ukrainian refugees? Pull out of the European Convention on human rights to reduce IPAS applicants? Reduce visas to non-EEA countries or look to reduce free travel within the EU?
If they don’t address any of those issues nothing will change.
Ok-Package9273 on
The housing crisis isn’t the fault of immigrants. Fact.
High levels of immigration exacerbate the issue of housing shortages. Fact.
We need solutions to housing and building more houses simply isn’t happening fast enough and no party has any serious suggestions for how to speed it up besides increasing the number of houses they’re promising in manifestos. Therefore we need to reduce pull factors for immigration in the short term until the housing crisis is addressed.
metalmessiah88 on
If internet explorer was a person
No-Outside6067 on
This time last year he said
>I think when we look back on this period of history, being a small country that took in 100,000 Ukrainians is something that we should be proud of and will be proud of
How can he criticize a situation he directly caused.
>warned fellow politicians that “more than ever” they must understand the effects that their words have when talking about the issue of migration.
>said it is important that politicians have the “courage” to make the case in favour of migration to the State.
He pushed for migration to be more accepted. He didn’t want to be seen as anti immigrant and now he’s responsible in part for the increase in migration.
mcsleepyburger on
Laughable, considering FFG were viciously denying any claims like this just 12 months ago. A comment such as that would have you tarred as far right.
Sinn Feins collapse has the political establishment worried and they’re pivoting now, making noises to placate the electorate before the election.
RobotIcHead on
Funny, I remember some politicians throwing shade at parties for going after the anti-immigrant vote. I also remember some government making a big deal about our population rising and how we would need services to match them, I believe that he came some party with the initials FG.
But holy fuck this is enraging, the fucker should know better than to even hint at it. They really are becoming Irish tories.
croghan2020 on
Ukrainians should be returned off the war is over and accommodation being used should be for asylum seekers until there case is heard, after that either return or integrate and we should have quotas yo allow for successful integration. With nothing free for any chancers coming in.
Mundane-Inevitable-5 on
Sounds like yappy mcyapperson has designs on making a political comeback at some point, with all the populist yapping he’s been doing the last few days. Had your chance, now piss off you lying slime ball.
INXS2021 on
The neck on this lad!! Put the country in the bin for years to come then acts like he wasn’t driving the bus…absolute wank pot
pubtalker on
100k people entered Ireland last year, 60k are Ukrainian. 60k Irish emigrate out of Ireland in the same time. The population really only went up by 40k. FFG promised to build at least 50k homes each year they only built 32k last year. They can’t even keep up with their own made up numbers and are blaming immigrants for it.
sashamasha on
Mr Bigmouth since he quit his job.
railwayed on
Immigration comes in many forms. Ireland absolutely still needs skilled immigration, but this can be controlled through an application process. Same goes for Asylum seekers and refugees, this cab be controlled. There is however also ancestral immigration, which could technically be controlled if you tighten the grandparent clause for Foreign Birth Registration, and also EU immigration which is defined by EU law and cannot really be controlled.
So what are we talking about here, and what is the biggest issue for people? the rhetoric you see is asylum seekers and refugees, and a lot of skilled immigrants get lumped into this
amadan_an_iarthair on
Varadkar is trying to appear strong on a non-issue that only appears big because of how much his party fucked us over.
It’s akin to someone complaining about too many people with broken bones on their road, all the while their smashing up the street with a sledgehammer.
33 Comments
“In the interview, Mr Varadkar warned against rising populism and prejudice in parts of Irish society but conceded immigration had proved to be a huge challenge for Irish society.
“The majority of people think that the numbers have been too big in recent years, and they’re right. A country of five million people seeing its population rise by 2 per cent a year, which is what’s happening at the moment, is too fast,” he said before taking part in a debate with former Democratic Congressman Joe Kennedy during his visit to the university.”
Jesus, the lads full of opinions all of a sudden. He should get someone to look in to that for him.
Both Varadkar amd Harris had to come out with their racist dog whistles while in America because they know no Irish journalist would accept the crap they are spewing.
If what Varadkar says is true (its not) then him, Harris and the rest of the useless pricks are the problem. They actively allowed this to happen, they deliberately created the mess, they and their cronies are profiting massively from this over the interests of Irish people.
The way this man talks about issues in the country as if he wasn’t leading it for 6 years is infuriating
All of a sudden he has a pair of balls now that he can’t influence fuck all. A complete fucking melt that man is.
Shows him up for how spineless he is
It’s true what he says about our unsustainable population growth, but he oversaw that and was well aware at the time, he just didn’t have the stones to actually do anything about it
He’s not wrong. Something prevented him from voicing his opinions while in power
no they haven’t. the population in general has risen too quickly because they stopped building places to live. the problems in this country is never their (the govt) fucking problem. classic.
Was this only intended for the American audience?
It’s almost like blaming immigrants/foreigners for the housing crisis is viewed as being easier/more convenient than building houses. But that can’t be right?
If only he had any power to have done something about it over the last 13 years that he’s been sitting a the cabinet table /s
Is anyone else sceptical about Fine Gaels messaging on immigration now, given the timing of it close to an election?
Maybe i’m overly cynical but they’ve been in government throughout the migration crisis. They rolled out the biggest expansion of the work permit system in the state just this year after last year’s record immigration numbers.
Their actions and messaging just don’t match up. I think they’re doing this purely for political theatre in the wake of the elections because they know a huge number of people are worried and pissed off about it.
They did similar in the wake of the local elections with asylum seekers. Completely mismanaged the asylum system, and then in the last months before the election, they only just began saying they would start being tough on illegal migration and deporting people without a right to stay.
He always did this commentator bit. Like he’s detached from it all and is making observations. Frustrating.
Correction: we haven’t moved fast enough to upgrade our infrastructure to accommodate increased population the economy needs.
We just don’t move fast enough.
I thought we got rid of the burden of having to listen to this c*nt
Ah but there will still be lunatics who believe Ireland should let anyone and everyone in regardless of their intentions, history, age or skills.
https://www.irishtimes.com/politics/2023/05/16/no-plan-to-cap-refugee-numbers-as-taoiseach-says-co-clare-blockade-not-necessary/
FG seem to universally accept that immigration is too high. I’d love if a journalist actually questioned them on what their proposed solution is rather than the debate being completely hijacked by how bad the far right is.
Will they cap the number of Ukrainian refugees? Pull out of the European Convention on human rights to reduce IPAS applicants? Reduce visas to non-EEA countries or look to reduce free travel within the EU?
If they don’t address any of those issues nothing will change.
The housing crisis isn’t the fault of immigrants. Fact.
High levels of immigration exacerbate the issue of housing shortages. Fact.
We need solutions to housing and building more houses simply isn’t happening fast enough and no party has any serious suggestions for how to speed it up besides increasing the number of houses they’re promising in manifestos. Therefore we need to reduce pull factors for immigration in the short term until the housing crisis is addressed.
If internet explorer was a person
This time last year he said
>I think when we look back on this period of history, being a small country that took in 100,000 Ukrainians is something that we should be proud of and will be proud of
How can he criticize a situation he directly caused.
https://preview.redd.it/1tkzrhrtxbrd1.jpeg?width=782&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1b10a6b94a08a80676999889411a7915a4191e82
Typical Varadkar, gaslighting the nation once again.
The sooner he fecks off to obscurity, the better.
Interesting article [here](https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/arid-41279116.html) from Nov 2023.
In it Varadkar
>warned fellow politicians that “more than ever” they must understand the effects that their words have when talking about the issue of migration.
>said it is important that politicians have the “courage” to make the case in favour of migration to the State.
He pushed for migration to be more accepted. He didn’t want to be seen as anti immigrant and now he’s responsible in part for the increase in migration.
Laughable, considering FFG were viciously denying any claims like this just 12 months ago. A comment such as that would have you tarred as far right.
Sinn Feins collapse has the political establishment worried and they’re pivoting now, making noises to placate the electorate before the election.
Funny, I remember some politicians throwing shade at parties for going after the anti-immigrant vote. I also remember some government making a big deal about our population rising and how we would need services to match them, I believe that he came some party with the initials FG.
But holy fuck this is enraging, the fucker should know better than to even hint at it. They really are becoming Irish tories.
Ukrainians should be returned off the war is over and accommodation being used should be for asylum seekers until there case is heard, after that either return or integrate and we should have quotas yo allow for successful integration. With nothing free for any chancers coming in.
Sounds like yappy mcyapperson has designs on making a political comeback at some point, with all the populist yapping he’s been doing the last few days. Had your chance, now piss off you lying slime ball.
The neck on this lad!! Put the country in the bin for years to come then acts like he wasn’t driving the bus…absolute wank pot
100k people entered Ireland last year, 60k are Ukrainian. 60k Irish emigrate out of Ireland in the same time. The population really only went up by 40k. FFG promised to build at least 50k homes each year they only built 32k last year. They can’t even keep up with their own made up numbers and are blaming immigrants for it.
Mr Bigmouth since he quit his job.
Immigration comes in many forms. Ireland absolutely still needs skilled immigration, but this can be controlled through an application process. Same goes for Asylum seekers and refugees, this cab be controlled. There is however also ancestral immigration, which could technically be controlled if you tighten the grandparent clause for Foreign Birth Registration, and also EU immigration which is defined by EU law and cannot really be controlled.
So what are we talking about here, and what is the biggest issue for people? the rhetoric you see is asylum seekers and refugees, and a lot of skilled immigrants get lumped into this
Varadkar is trying to appear strong on a non-issue that only appears big because of how much his party fucked us over.
It’s akin to someone complaining about too many people with broken bones on their road, all the while their smashing up the street with a sledgehammer.