McHugh says immigration debate distracts people from 'the real issues'

The debate around immigration is being used to distract attention from the immediate concerns people have with housing, health and cost of living, that is, according to Saoirse McHugh.

The European election candidate in Midlands North West said instead of government parties getting ‘hammered’ for their ‘abysmal decisions’ on health and housing, frustration is focused on ‘a group of vulnerable people who are being forced to sleep rough on the streets of Dublin’.

She continued: “All we’ve heard for the last two months from politicians is immigration, but it doesn’t come up near as much on the doors, most people are concerned about the real things that affect them. The odd person has a problem with immigration, but when you examine it, they usually have some other, major issue, usually in housing or in health, and this has been weaponised against migrants.”

Ms McHugh’s comments come in the middle of an election campaign which has been dominated by the immigration question, but she believes this focus has been driven by fringe elements.

The Mayo politician said this became ‘such a big issue’ through ‘a campaign of violence by a new, domestic terrorist movement’. 

“They’ve been burning hotels and buses, harassing library staff and setting up blockades all over the country, all instigated and orchestrated by a small group of white supremacists with a lot of support from the US. 

“Of course, there are issues with processing times and Brexit has added new challenges, but this small group of terrorists have managed to make migration the number one issue of the election and in doing so, have been able pull the three main parties towards a harder immigration stance. In this time we’ve seen hate crime rise by 44%, violent attacks and threats on politicians and canvassers and a man get killed in Dublin for not speaking English,” continued the Independent candidate.

A recent analysis of hashtags used on X, formerly known as Twitter, revealed that of the posts using the hashtag #IrelandbelongstotheIrish only a quarter originated from accounts in Ireland with 57 percent originating from the United States, something Ms McHugh believes adds to the pressure on politicians.

“This use of foreign accounts to add pressure has worked because so many of our politicians are so lacking in conviction that they need to follow public pressure. I understand why Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael are okay to allow this situation to worsen, because it directs anger away from them and onto people seeking asylum, but Sinn Féin’s position makes absolutely no sense, morally or politically. 

She added: “They’ve amplified the ‘Open Borders’ conspiracy theory and in doing so have jeopardised our own soft border and cost themselves a lot of support. This is political cowardice at its most abhorrent.”

Explaining solutions available to deal with these problems immediately, Ms McHugh said these require ‘real leadership and conviction’, which is ‘rare in Irish politics’. 

“We can staff and resource the asylum system properly, so people can get on with their lives, we can get the 160,000 vacant properties in the state into use to alleviate the housing crisis, we can regulate the social media companies to stop spreading hate and misinformation, and we can crack down on the domestic terrorists who are inciting violence around the country. 

“This requires that combination of conviction and compassion that is rare in Irish politics, but the alternative is we keep letting far-right thugs drive us into some dystopian future,” she concluded.