The Sunday Independent's View: Managing immigration requires a delicate balance

"The country needs migrants: to build houses; to work on the MetroLink (if it ever gets started); to fill vacancies in our health and social-care services. We also have a solemn obligation to offer refuge to those genuinely fleeing persecution. The greater the increase in population, the more pressure is put on the system, increasing the need for further immigration to plug the gaps. The boulder keeps rolling down the hill."

"A hope of avoiding such an eventuality is one reason for the immigration measures announced by Justice Minister Jim O'Callaghan last week. Future migrants will have to wait longer before their families can join them. Those granted refugee status will also face a five-year wait before being able to apply for full citizenship. It would be foolish to deny that these changes are specifically targeted to discourage migrants from choosing Ireland as a destination."

"Further deterrence may prove unavoidable, if the similar crackdown unveiled recently by British home secretary Shabana Mahmood has the same success in dramatically cutting migration numbers as the Danish policy on which it is based. Many who are turned away from Britain may turn their gaze to Ireland instead. It is far easier to slip quietly over an invisible land border than to cross the English Channel in a dinghy."

Ireland requires migrants for construction, transport projects and to fill health and social-care vacancies while also bearing an obligation to shelter those fleeing persecution. Population growth intensifies demand on public services and creates a cycle of further immigration to fill gaps. Recent policy changes lengthen family reunification waits and impose a five-year delay before refugees can apply for full citizenship, measures intended to discourage migrants. Similar deterrent approaches abroad could redirect migration flows to Ireland because of the porous land border, and rising immigration can foster resentment among those who feel left behind.

Read at Irish Independent