The Dublin Riots

There’s a tree near where I do my writing, and whenever there’s a gusty storm the tree rains down dead branches and large seed pods. I feel like this is the process of shedding dead weight, a necessary discharge in order to make way for new growth. Likewise, I sometimes like to take a sensitive topic and shake out all its dead weight. It’s cathartic.

Right now my mind is with the people of Dublin. They’re facing some confronting issues. To briefly sum up, a man took a knife in the city centre and attacked school-aged children (Thurs 23 Nov 2023). The stabber was subdued and dealt quite a severe thrashing by at least one passer by. Everyone knew the attacker was an Algerian born man but the media and politicians initially withheld this detail. Riots followed; a sign of long simmering tensions. The frustration seems to have been aimed at the immigration policy and the political interests defending it.

Let’s shake it.

It wasn’t long ago the UK exited the EU, largely due to concerns about immigration policy.

“…in 2010 across the Middle East and North Africa… the Arab Spring created new waves of immigration into Europe.

“Angela Merkel threw open Germany’s borders and in doing so broke a number of EU regulations. This only served to harden views on immigration across the rest of the EU and Britain. People felt they’d lost control of it, and fear and anxiety crept in as a consequence.” https://www.essex.ac.uk/research/showcase/why-britain-really-voted-to-leave-the-european-union

The question on the street at the time of the 2016 Brexit referendum was; “if the Germans give them [the 1.3 million Muslims] German passports, can they come here?” Niall Ferguson (2018)

That feeling of being out of control is easily manipulated. So what I want to do here is list out some of the most reasonable concerns that deserve consideration. In particular, what are the realities of throwing open the borders?

It is widely acknowledged that a sudden and large influx of immigrants, with all their traumatic experiences, can cause a destabilising effect on the host country.

There might be several destabilising factors such an event may give rise to:

• initial settling in issues,

• ongoing trauma in those being settled,

• cultural - legal conflicts,

• not everyone in the host nation will be as enthusiastic as everyone else about what they’re being asked to sacrifice.

If an influx causes instability in their host nation it may defeat the purpose of having left their homelands, defeating the purpose of their efforts, and only serving to spread their troubles more widely.

We might also consider that most nations have their own current problems in addition to the settling of immigrants. Some of those pre-existing conditions might also be multiplied in the face of a sudden population increase.

On this basis I offer the benefit of the doubt to views which have second thoughts about immigration. However….

Maybe open borders are a good idea. After all it’s only fair. Why shouldn’t someone have a right to improve their lot?

It may also be argued that for the minority of immigrants who cause issues, there are a vast majority who want to work hard and contribute to their new community. Doubly, an immigrant who is welcomed into a nation after such a turbulent time in their lives is far more likely to want to integrate and contribute than the one who is immediately regarded with suspicion upon arrival.

Further, it should be remembered, in the case of the Irish people, they must certainly admit to have benefited from migration to other countries in times of distress in their homeland. Moreover, that the sudden influx of Irish people was not entirely without consequence to the host nation.

When we shake out a topic like this sometimes all we seem to end up with is a pile of broken sticks. But having demonstrated hopefully that there is sufficient reason for the tensions, maybe it offers a sense that there’s a less violent way forward.

The people of Dublin and the Republic of Ireland have been confronted with a question. It is a question which will be played out over time. But some might mistake what that question really is. The question is not necessarily posing an ultimatum between open and closed borders. It’s not a choice of EU benefits or control over immigration policy. It’s not even a question about remaining in the EU or independence.

The question I hope Ireland will task itself with is this:

How can a nation distinguish itself among nations by dealing with a difficult situation most honourably? How can Ireland emerge from these challenges stronger than it was beforehand?

There are no clear cut solutions. It will take a nation of diverse views to work together and listen to one another. I’m immensely fond of Ireland and the Irish, and I wish I could do more than to merely offer my thoughts.