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LAST WEEK, THE new Taoiseach fanfared a plan to increase the weekly payment made to asylum seekers, by €2.50, bringing a single person’s weekly payment to €21.60.
This was one of the earliest announcements by the country’s new leader. It looked like a PR exercise to reassure us of Varadkar’s social conscience.
It was so tone deaf to the needs of Ireland’s asylum seekers, it confirmed what many feared about the new Fine Gael darling: that his social policy over the coming years could rival his Tory cousins.
LGBT asylum seekers and their pressures
Last year, I co-founded Identity, a support group for LGBT asylum seekers. Identity is a peer-to-peer network, offering support and advice as well as a sense of community to its members.
LGBT asylum seekers are faced with distinct pressures: they are at an intersection of several disadvantages. These are people predominantly from Africa and the Middle East who have been forced to leave their home countries because they identify as LGBT. They come to Ireland to escape persecution in societies where to be “out” is to put your life at risk.
The trauma of fleeing their home is compounded by entering the inhumane system of direct provision. Under direct provision, an asylum seeker lives in hostel-style accommodation, often sharing rooms with strangers. Residents may not cook for themselves; instead meals are provided at set times of the day.
Significantly, asylum seekers may not work to earn an income. An asylum seekers lives in direct provision for the time it takes for their case to be processed. For many, this may take several years.
Allow us to work here
One member of Identity told me: “Instead of arguing over payment increases, what we need is a change in the rules around right to work. Allow us to work here and we can make our own living. We are skilled and intelligent, but right now we are wasting away, getting bored and depressed.”
Direct provision is an expensive answer to the migrant crisis and is no longer fit for purpose. It was first implemented as an “emergency measure” in 1999 and is contracted out to private corporations to total annual cost to the Exchequer of €43.5m.
Notable, in 2016 Aramark, the controversial American company which provides hospitality to the US prison system, was paid €5.2 million to provide basic bed and board to only 850 asylum seekers in Ireland. Mosney Holidays and East Coast Catering each received fees in excess of €7 million. There is big money being made from direct provision.
This is why Varadkar’s €2.50 extra announcement sounded so hollow. In fact, the working group on direct provision chaired by Bryan McMahon in 2015, recommended an increase of €17, not €2.50.
Hypocrisy in cheering for our gay Taoiseach
Another member of our group, a 32 year woman from Zimbabwe told me: “I thought having a Taoiseach who is gay and the son of immigrants would be good news for us stuck in direct provision. But it seems Varadkar does not empathise with our plight. Otherwise he would not have made his first interaction with asylum seekers this insultingly tiny increase”.
As we celebrate Pride this weekend, we will enjoy our global reputation as a socially progressive society, liberated from our conservative past. But there is a hypocrisy in cheering for our gay Taoiseach, while simultaneously turning a blind eye to his policies, policies which will only damage the lives of those in our society most at risk.
Pride started as a protest against the persecution of LGBT people. In 2017 we must ask ourselves, do we truly care about the lives of all LGBT people – or only those who have votes and who can afford the cost of a pint in The George to rub shoulders with our shiny new Taoiseach?
Oonagh Murphy is a theatre director and activist. She co-founded Change of Address, a collective connecting asylum seekers with the Irish creative community. Change of Address run Identity Support Group for LGBT Asylum Seekers.
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Leo Varadkar is not your “gay Taoiseach”. He’s the Taoiseach. Did the author refer to Enda Kenny as the “straight Taoiseach” during his tenure?.
@Dj: It comes across that the gay community as whole are very intolerant of people in their own community that do not adhere to the LGBT political agenda I understand that what I have said is a generalization gut it comes across very strongly, it seems that equality is set on a basis of strict political positions not true equality, and the general population are beginning to be pissed off with the hyporicary.
@ktsiwot: the left is mostly hypocrisy. For example, Students who complain about captailism but have a iPhone…
@Dj: Maybe it’s because Enda wasn’t a straight talk Taoiseach?
@Philip Brady: Or people who talk down communism/socialism but go to public schools and hospitals and use public roads, all socialist ideas
@Dilly Phun: So socialists invented the public road? I would have thought it was the Greeks.
@Joe Bloggs: they also invented homosexuality so perhaps there is a connection
and a great irony considering that many asylum seekers come from countries where homosexuality is criminalised and gay people are victimised and shunned by society in general.
@Philip Brady: actually the iPhone depended a lot on technology that was developed by the government. Ie touch screen technology. So that argument doesn’t really work.
@Dilly Phun: there’s some socialism that can be incorporated of course, it’s about balance and what works. Communism does not work.
@Niall Campbell: don’t know what you’re talking about.
@Crocodylus Pontifex: The Greeks did invent sex. The Romans improved on it by introducing women.
@Dj: Agreed, what pathetic read this article was. I just wasted 15 minutes of my life. Support for LGBTabcdefghijk… asylum seekers. We have more support groups for LGBT then you could shake a stick at. I just hope this waste of time is not state funded. “We want to be treated equally” is what they say but demand some sort of special treatment just because the man at the top is Gay!! Is this guy for real. #Snowflakes
@Philip Brady: Philip while there is a lot of hypocrisy are you seriously saying an I Phone bars you from wanting a more equal society, you can do better than that
nobody cares about our taoiseach being gay, only those with an agenda in the media. 99% of the people recognise him as the man who got the most votes in the dail and opinion on his policies are varied.
why not attack the taoiseach on aslyum seekers – why bring his sexuality into this ?
It seems to be that one can only be truely gay if one is the “right” kind of gay i.e. liberal progressive.
Recently we have seen this nonsense in the USA where “Gays for Trump” were banned from a Pride march because they were the “wrong” kind of gay and this article stinks of this theme.
The idea that as a gay man our Taoiseach be part of the gay hive mind and support every cause tenuously linked to LGBT is nonsense. He (I would hope) is his own man with his own ideas.
why not attack the taoiseach on aslyum seekers – why bring his sexuality into this ?
@Rob Mahony: agreed. It’s a mindset that, if used in the other direction, would be admonished as backwards and shameful. I don’t think him being gay is any more important than his hair colour; a non-issue.
@Rob: Why is Dublin having a gay pride march? I think the whole idea is outdated and stinks of identity politics.
@Rob: yes talk about stereo typing. A gay Taoiseach should be an advocate for gay rights? So when we have a straight one, should they rescind those rights. Ridiculous article.
@john Appleseed: yes . That’s exactly it ! Let’s bmkero every one separate and forget about equality. . Maybe a gay taoiseach for gay people and a straight taoiseach for straight people?
@Rob Mahony: Funnily enough the worlds media were all referring to Varadker as Ireland’s first gay leader and made a big deal out of it whereas no one in Ireland gives a crap. This article and Pride week reeks of attention seekers whose moment in the spotlight is over and after achieving equality miss all of the notice that they were getting.
“But there is a hypocrisy in cheering for our gay Taoiseach” There is also a hypocrisy in identifying him as a gay Taoiseach while at the same time saying that we should all be treated as equal regardless of our sexuality.
“Pride started as a protest against the persecution of LGBT people”. Equality legislation, same sex marriage and the fact that being gay is no longer an eye opener would suggest that Pride has run it’s course. What is there to protest about in Ireland anymore unless of course it’s a bunch of people who are acting out because they aren’t getting the attention that they so desperately crave.
@Rob Mahony: He’s not a gay Taoiseach, he the Taoiseach of the day who just happens to be gay. Which is of course no one else business.
@Rob Mahony: Bang on
@Rob Mahony: could not agree with you more, spot on. Gay people are just that people, people using gays for political and social leverage is quite frankly sad and not progressive.
@Danny foley: couldn’t you say the same about the St Patricks Day Parade?
@mickmc: Did you not see the Irish Independent jumping all over the “homosexual, half Indian angle”? Then a couple of days later the same publication asked the question “Is the international media concentrating too much on the homosexual,half Indian angle?” The hypocrisy is mind boggling!
@Brian Ward: Worlds Media are very little concerned with Ireland to even notice the sexuality of the PM..
@Michael Heery: http://www.newsweek.com/leo-varadkar-ireland-prime-minister-619972
That’s just one article from dozens of news sources that reported on it.
Lgbt asylum seekers…ffs a group for every minority within a minority
@MaryLoonyMcDonald: next we’ll have black one legged green voter LGBT minority !!!!
You must have felt so strongly about this that you had to hide under a pseudonym?
@Ruaídhrí Lyttle: any comments i post to any article are all made using this Twitter account…your persecution complex has you believing i have a special account just to comment in lgbt articles.
@Ruaídhrí Lyttle: any comments i post to any article are all made using this Twitter account…your persecution complex has you believing i have a special account just to comment on lgbt articles.
@Ruaídhrí Lyttle: from your Twitter account it would appear you support Hamas and the Palestinians….how do you think they would treat lgbt people?
@MaryLoonyMcDonald: Yes, it’s complex.
LGBT asylum seekers are no different to any other asylum seeker in the system . She is just trying to use this as an excuse. If they are left there for years then it’s because they’re been refused asylum and shouldn’t be here .
@Suzie Sunshine: How dare Varadkar be the ” wrong type of gay”. How dare he have his own political views.
@Brinster: He didn’t choose his sexuality. He does choose to be a right winger who hates the poor. Judge him for that.
Before Leonard we had Edna, and the FG supporters followed him blindly despite his divisive policies…..
Suddenly a lot of failed asian asylum seekers who were denied asylum in the UK claim they became gay crossing the Irish sea..must be in the water
System where they can appeal all the way to the Supreme court is cruel…..After 2 years if they have been rejected and say 2 appeals have been rejected they should be sent home…..Dont understand why courts allow appeal after appeal to go on for years….Courts and judges are to blame for them being here for years in the cruel direct provision process…..In the US if you don’t have visa and are being deported can’t appeal to the US supreme court with free legal aid….
How come Enda was never referred to as “Enda Kenny our heterosexual Taoiseach”
@Mary Lyons: because at least Enda didn’t swoon at the site of No 10 Downing Street and fantasise about Hugh Grant to the papers. It was bloody embarrassing listing to our Taoiseach acting like a little princess instead of the leader of our country. I’ve zero issues wth LGBT but there’s a place and time for it and a meeting about Brexit with the British PM isn’t the time and place.
@Jay Coleman: a few deep down hidden issues maybe??
@Mary Lyons: not a bit :) I just expect our Taoiseach to act like a Taoiseach when on official duty. Besides Vradkar doesn’t care one iota about lgbt in this country. He only cares about his career path. Everything he’s done since he came into politics has been carefully crafted including his coming out has been for one sole reason. Himself.
But regardless of what I think direct provision in this country is absolutely disgraceful and like something from the dark ages.
@Jay Coleman: maybe we should give him a bit of a chance. Maybe a few weeks even?
@Mary Lyons: he’s been a politician longer than a few weeks and has failed miserably in every role. Taoiseach won’t be any different.
@Mary Lyons: Enda didn’t make a point of announcing it to everyone, Leo did.
Direct provision is expensive !!! You think it’ll be cheaper if all the asylum seekers and economic migrants get a private sector flat and full social welfare payments?
@MaryLoonyMcDonald: It’ll mean less political cronies scamming millions a year for their camps and “shops” where they charge twice what the supermarkets do.
Why do the gay politicos try to define the Taoiseach as gay Taoiseach. In his own words, he says it’s not what defines him. The gay politicos trying to create there global vision of two opposing opinions, very damaging to the gays that just want to assimilate with society
Only a cynic, a zealot or a halfwit would “cheer for our Taoiseach”
@Lorcán Ó Broin: or a late late show audience member. Btw a cynic and zealot are the opposite to each other
When is it straight pride day
@Jamie: Every day?
@Jamie: Poor Jamie. Are your needs not being met?
@Donal Proctor: im quite aware. Most people fall between polar extremes. btw thanks for the civics lesson…/s
@DaisyChainsaw: are you offering to fulfil them?
@Jamie: Oh honey, I know exactly what you need!
@DaisyChainsaw: Ye baby call me!!lol
Why have a Pride week I am not homophobic but cannot see why people go out on parades to announce their sexuality straight or gay. Their sexuality is their own business not everyone else’s business
@Kevin50: The pride march is not about shouting your gay its a march that started years ago about a guy who was killed for being gay it was a protest march that turned into something amazing. To show the world that the LGBTQ community will stand up for their rights to be Equal. Now its a great day out for all to celebrate diversity.
@Kevin50: Why have a St Patrick’s day parade?
@Eddie C Byrne: the pride march is about the stonewall riots. Nobody died at stonewall
This is classic Marxist analysis by the author. Only views the world through the lense of the Opressed and the Opressor.
@JΛCQUʘRΛПDΛ: its good to see people standing up to this, and calling it out for what it really is.
@Philip Brady: agree , i find it objectionable to start blending sexuality with political issues – suddenly I should feel hypocricy for welcoming the fact the Taoiseach office is held by a gay politician because the asylum seekers are not getting taken care well enough ?? The country has a very very long list of things that need to be addressed – transport , legal system , Garda reform , pension deficits , homelessness , housing crisis – but suddenly the Taoiseach happens to be gay and it is apparently hypocrisy to show any support because he hasn’t done enough for the gay asylum seekers – I’m sorry but if they are skilled and intelligent as described and I don’t doubt that – then why do they choose to move to Ireland and stay in direct provision for so many years rather than try move to try alternative options on the planet ? I agree that the situation is very far from ideal here for asylum seekers -but they are smart enough to know exactly what to expect here by now – and expecting that to change dramatically just because the tasoiseach happens to be gay is a very ill informed point of view ?
An important article which deconstructs the widely held but erroneous notion that LBTG inclusiveness at the highest levels of the political establishment will somehow act as a catalyst for a more progressive society.
@Tommy Browne: Try harder. Needs at least one “experiential” and two co-opted buzzwords.
@Ben McArthur:
It’s the kids I feel sorry for. How many young people reading the news on Facebook were duped into thinking that Leo was Ireland’s Trudeau and that Ireland could now be regarded as the most socially progressive country on the planet. I mean, all their friends ‘liked’ the notion.
Now look.
The emotional pain they must be experiencing at such a betrayal.
Someone needs to set up a support group post haste.
to help them cope with the trauma.
The article is about the rights and fears of LGBT community living under and in the Direct Provision system. Published in the context of Dublin Pride.
This is why it’s relevant.
Mark Malone. How many safe countries did they pass through before they got to Ireland. Now that is relevant.
@ray.farrelly: Shhhhs you’re not allowed ask very relevant questions like that around here for fear of being branded a racists or bigot.
Look he’s just the voice of a party full of christian conservatives and very likely people who think homosexuality can be cured. Also the author should note that only his father is an immigrant, one who could afford to raise and educate his son in castleknock. Sorry that you thought you’d be able to identify with him
@Dave O’Hanlon: what it can’t be cured????
Read the first two paragraphs and stopped. What a load of whataboutery!
The election of the new Taoiseach was all about been the first gay leader in Europe and was not about the policy he was going to implement. We seen the same hand clapping and back slapping in the referendum from the very same people and then there was this tweet from the head of the Rte news room which got to hot a topic and so deleted it. Will not be a great leader He wil be the author of Ireland misfortune of going down the tubes again for the second in a matter of 9 years when the real Brexit debate starts.
I’ve read and re-read this article. All I’m getting is a false sense of entitlement
THE SHAMEFUL REALITY OF THE BANANA REPUBLIC WE LIVE IN :(
@Time to Wake Up: i say there was plenty of bananas sold today been a special day!
I dont care if leo is gay or not what trubles me is his lack of understanding of issues that effect people living in ireland today. Typical finna geal
What they want is special treatment, special status makes a mockery of “equality”. The Taoiseach can only be judged on how he deals with everyone, not a select group within a select desiring elite status – at the expense of everyone else. I was listening to a spokeperson asking for special funding for specialist helplines, specialist councilling in schools both secondary and primary etc etc this is all very laudable – but for EVERYONE. This is supposed to be a fair democracy a flawed one but a democracy first.
Leo doesn’t fit her narrow stereotype of what a Gay person should be like or what they should believe in. Oh no!
Well done to the Muslim LBGT community for your participation and support of this year’s Pride march. A small but significant step forward.
they want to be special they will be looking for halting sites next!!
Aramark now own Avoca. Keep that in mind when you chomp on your chocolate biscuit cake!
@Brendan Grehan: Wow. Never spending a cent there again… And damn, I love the place.
Ray, if you’ve got specific, go a ahead and state them. You seem pretty versed in the Dublin convention, right?
Otherwise you’re making grand claims without any back up. And without actually addressing the specifics of the article. I mean if you are against the state meeting fully its legal and moral obligations to fellow humans seeking protection here, that’s your entitlement. It’s a position that’s not uncommon from commenters here.
But it’s not on uniformly held either.
Mark Malone. Do you know how many safe countries they passed through? If not then get of your high horse. This is an island surrounded by water. The did not fall from the sky or teleported here. If they are illegal they should be deported ASAP. End off.
He is gay and unfortunately he’s running our country
Who’s cheering??????
The title of this story is so misleading it says the polices then focuses on one specific one that affects few voters when Leo was health minister forcing austerity on the weakest for years then switched over to social protection to kick the unemployed and weakest in society in the head smearing them calling them cheats. I dont understand why there is such a economy drive on website space the amount of text in this article is so short youd think the man was a saint and not a neo conservative that kicks every LGBT min wage worker and all workers in the guts everyday with the USC in their pay packet paying for a private bank bailout and a crash they didnt create. the housing crisis affects gay people the austerity the lack of public services the over worked LGBT emergency services. Ive end direct provision on my facebook but you have to widen the conversation to corbyns message few the many not the few this just sets us against each other. Or was that the point of cherry picking this issue journal?
Being an asylum seeker has nothing intherently to do with being LGBT. Why do we need a strictly LGBT charity to help ONLY LGBT asylum seekers? Are the other 90+% of asylum seekers not just as badly treated?
Who is cheering for him. He voted against civil partnership for gay couples and spoke against LGBT adoptions. The guy is a disgrace so he needn’t wrap himself in the rainbow flag and pretend to be a decent human being at this stage, its too late. He is also anti-choice and joined FG around the time of the whole Lowry/O’Brien affair because he said he was impressed by their integrity as a Party. That should tell anyone all they need to know about his morals.
Leo, the boy Taoiseach, may well have a populist tide with him, but he is FG, & without descending to pejorative terms, I fear that the men in grey suits controlling the back office will continue to call the shots, protect the status quo for wealthy ranchers & business interests who were & will continue to benefit from FG policies.
A few pence will be allocated to the masses, but the big bucks will flow upwards, as always.
Wanna help LGBT asylum seekers? Easy, deport all the homophobic asylum seekers instead of allowing them in together with LGBT asylum seekers for the sake of political correctness!
So he’s been Taoiseach for a week and a bit and you want him to have sorted out direct provision centres in that time? The fact that he’s gay is totally irrelevant to most people except it would seem those on the niche left who will never agree with anything a Fine Gael Taoiseach does anyway.
The sexual orientation of the Taoiseach is irrelevant. It is not a factor is expecting more or less from him.
He does stand to be judged on his political values and performance.
It’s becoming a joke now. I am sick hearing of Leo Vradkars sexuality. I don’t care about it and I don’t want to know about his love life. The only think I care about is what he is going to do to narrow the inequality gap in Ireland. I want to know what he is going to do about young children living in hotels and hubs. These are the important things we and the media need to be talking about. We are not a great country because our Taoiseach is gay and half Indian. Stop blowing our trumpet we have families without homes we can’t provide decent health care for a certain cohort of people, we have people being exploited on zero hour contracts and the list goes on. Forget about all the other stuff it just doesn’t matter. It’s the policies !!!!!
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