Ireland 'gripped by ugly mood' as fury over migrant surge reaches 'crisis' point

Ireland is in the grip of an “ugly mood” as a result of rising anger over a perceived inability to control a recent immigration surge, a former top diplomat has warned.

Ray Bassett, the country’s former ambassador to Canada, Jamaica and the Bahamas, said the situation represented a “crisis”, not only for the ruling coalition headed up by Taoiseach and Fine Gael leader Simon Harris, but for Mary Lou McDonald’s Sinn Fein, seen by many as having “betrayed” its roots.

Furious protesters yesterday voiced their anger against the republican party after migrants pitched tents along Dublin’s famous Grand Canal, with one eurosceptic politician accusing the republican party of “stealing the flag of Irish nationalism for decades”.

Demonstrators marched through the centre of the Irish capital yesterday, with thousands chanting: “Sinn Fein are traitors.”

Mr Bassett told Express.co.uk: “There is an ugly mood among sections of the community in Ireland in the wake of the immigration surge and the Irish Government's utter inability to manage it. It has caused a crisis, not only for the current administration.

Sinn Fein, which is the largest single party in Ireland’s legislature, the Dail, which has strong support among ordinary working class communities, had seen its support slip lately, Mr Bassett pointed out.

He explained: “Sinn Fein has always portrayed itself as a populist left of centre party, which is unusual in Europe where populist parties are mainly of the Right.

“It now faces a stark choice, either change its position on immigration or lose its chance of forming the next Government. It is as simple as that.

“The liberal policy of Sinn Fein on immigration is seen by many of their supporters as a betrayal of their interests as pressure comes on services, such as housing, GP appointments, etc. Hence the anger seen against the party in recent demonstrations.”

Those joining the protests felt the establishment and the media were against them and determined to brand them far right, which eurosceptic Mr Bassett described as “a lazy way of dismissing the grievances.”

He continued: “Unfortunately for Sinn Fein, it is seen by many as part of the establishment.

“The Sinn Fein party has made a quick reversal on a number of issues but immigration is by far the most challenging. Whether this will be enough to regain lost support remains to be seen.

“It has now opposed the Government's decision to join the EU' Migration Pact, giving Brussels more control over Irish immigration policy. Since only tiny numbers of asylum seekers come to Ireland from mainland Europe, the Pact makes little or no sense for Ireland.

“It would lessen Dublin' ability to be flexible in its dealings with London. It is another example of putting Brussels' interest before Ireland’s.”

Referring to UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s legislation, Mr Bassett continued: “The Rwandan Act in the UK has brought some of these tensions to the forefront.

“Sinn Fein will watch the forthcoming local and European elections to gauge how much damage has been done to its base support. If the results are disappointing for them, expect a further lurch to the right from the party on immigration.

The protest was staged after so-called “tent cities” sprang up in various areas of the city, with many migrants believed to have crossed over from Northern Ireland in recent weeks.

Commenting afterwards, Hermann Kelly, leader of the right-wing Irish Freedom Party, who favours taking Ireland out of the bloc, told Irish media outlet The Liberal: “A nationalist consciousness is rising again in Ireland after being beaten down and told to shut up for decades .

“The flag of nationalism has been stolen by Sinn Fein for decades.

“It was just corrupted by this woke, sick cultural Marxism, this intersectional baloney imported from America.

“The simple, normal, democratic urge for Irish people to make their own laws and for our own benefit has returned.

“People have noticed that the opportunities for their children are decreasing all the time. They find it difficult to buy a house or rent an apartment because uncontrolled unbounded immigration has put ownership of it beyond their means.”

Separately Fianna Fail TD James O’Connor called for police to be stationed along the Republic’s border with the North to prevent asylum seekers crossing into his country.

He told Irish state broadcaster RTE: “I would be quite forthright that we do need to see a further rapid expansion of border policing around migration.

"This is something that I feel is not being done sufficiently and I do feel that we need to take the bull by the horns here and address it because we have to look after people that come here, but we do need to acknowledge that there is a tipping point where we can't do that any more."

Given the history of the island, partitioned into north and south in the 1920s, such a move would be extremely contentious but Mr O’Connor said: "What is the alternative? That is the question.

"Are we going to leave it (the border) unpoliced and allow further encampments around cities in Ireland and towns in Ireland increase.”

Ireland was implacably opposed to additional infrastructure along the border in the aftermath of the 2016 Brexit referendum but Mr O’Connor continued: "I think it's about sending a signal from Ireland that we've taken over 100,000 people from both Ukraine and from many other parts of the country of the world in terms of economic migration, and refugees for other reasons.

"And I feel that we have now done our bit as a country.”

He explained: "We are 5.4 million people here, we've taken an enormous share internationally and that's something that needs to be acknowledged and address the issues in constituencies such as my own and others that haven't been properly resourced to deal with these challenges, particularly in schools."

Meanwhile, Trinity College has announced a series of measures in response to concerns raised by students taking part in a pro-Palestinian encampment protest on its grounds.

Visitors have been unable to access the historic Book of Kells since the action began on Friday evening when the activists set up tents inside the campus of the prestigious Dublin university.

The students taking part in the protest have vowed to maintain the blockade until the university cuts all ties with Israel