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File photo: A protest against DP in 2013 at the Department of Justice. Niall Carson

'I live in Direct Provision and our kids are not immune to racial discrimination'

Owodunni Ola Mustapha tells her own story and that of the children in DP who have suffered racist abuse.

Owodunni Ola Mustapha is a Nigerian mother of three. She is an asylum seeker and lives in a Direct Provision Centre in County Mayo. She has been in the Direct Provision (DP) system for six years.

In light of recent Black Lives Matter protests across the US and globally, the issue of racism in Ireland has come to the fore. Central to that debate here is the issue of DP.

I CAME TO Ireland six years ago in search of safety and stability from a life in Nigeria which still haunts me to this day. My first port of call was the proverbial “Big House”.

Next, I was sent to Balseskin Reception Centre in Dublin. We were expected to live here for a short period of time after which we would be transferred to a more “appropriate” Direct Provision centre.

I spent thirty days holed up in a room with my three kids and wondering what next? How do people survive here? The food was terrible, I can count the number of times I ate in the canteen. My two older kids survived on bread and tea.

Relief finally came when I got my transfer letter to Ballyhaunis. I did not know whether to celebrate or be saddened by the move. I packed up my clothes that I had amassed from the donations of the kindhearted people who bring in goods to the centre.

An uncertain move

We arrived at this gated premises and I saw houses and they seemed to me to be perfect structures, very different from the structural setup at Balseskin. I was allocated two rooms and told it was lunchtime and I had to go and queue in the canteen for food. My then neighbour, who coincidentally was a Nigerian, offered me a traditional meal of Eba and Efo riro, a kind of spinach stew, which I devoured amidst tears.

That would mark the beginning of my seemingly endless journey in Direct Provision.

Over the years, I have had to live a redundant lifestyle as I am not qualified for access to the labour market, as decided by the Irish government. Because of this, the asylum-seeking community can be likened to a village where residents rely on each other for virtually everything.

Some are either too scared to speak out about the difficulties of life in DP, for fear of being transferred to a centre that is worse than their current one, or they worry that speaking out is tantamount to your case being jeopardised.

You then wonder how people survive years behind these walls without going crazy. My daily routine has not changed in years, except on the days I go to school. I prepare the kids for school and then curl up in bed and blame my ‘calamities’ on myself.

Should we reminisce on the months or even years in some cases that it takes to get a hearing or the years it takes to get a first instance decision on your case? I have heard people say ‘’they should be deported as soon as their refugee status is denied’’ when referring to asylum seekers. How these vulnerable people are supposed to be responsible for the inaction of the Department of Justice though, baffles me.

Racism, and silence

Permit me to begin on the topic of racism by saying that segregating people from mainstream society and abdicating the affairs of their lives to DP centre managers for profit is at its core a form of institutional racism and a recipe for disaster.

The last of the Magdalene Laundries closed its doors in 1996 as it was declared to be inhumane. Three years later someone decided the same form of accommodation would be suitable for people who have come to this country to seek safety. How can this be?

I have spent the past few weeks since the death of George Floyd in the US and the start of the Black Lives Matter protests here advocating against racism in Ireland. As part of this work, I spoke to young children in an attempt to find out if they could corroborate the stories of the young adults who have recently posted videos online narrating their experiences of racism.

To my amazement, these children were not immune to racial discrimination. In their own words, they told me:

We never get invited to any party in the area because people feel we are poor, and we have no good clothes.
Aunty, do you believe that someone opened a group on Snapchat, added the black kids from school and started sending hateful words to us, I got a picture of black people being hung.
I got messages telling me to go back to where I came from I was called the N-word, Black Monkey, Gorilla, Slave, ‘Immigrant’.
I was accused of stealing something in the store, but they never found anything on me.
I was told my hair is ugly, only Irish people have nice hair.
I was called dirty because of my skin and told that my nose is ugly.

Interestingly, I asked the parents of these kids if they ever reported these incidents, while some of them said they did not think anything would be done, others feared that reporting this abuse to the Gardai could endanger their own asylum cases.

Impacts on children

Either way, they have all coached their children to develop thick skin to any abuse hurled at them. In addition, as parents, we all want to send our children to school and hope that they will be fine. But imagine having to deal with the long waiting times for your asylum case to be answered while also discussing issues like this with your young children.

It makes me sick to my stomach. We have children who have been through traumatic events from their country of origins.
The Syrian, Iraqi, Zimbabwean, Malawian, Nigerian, South African, Albanian, Georgian, Iranian, Yemeni, Afghani kids who came into Ireland in search of safety.

If you have read “Correspondences: An Anthology to Call for an End to Direct Provision” by Jessica Traynor and Steven Rea, you will be familiar with the story of Marwa Zamir. She detailed the gruesome scenes she witnessed on the streets of Afghanistan and how her mum covered her eyes to prevent her from seeing dead people on the streets. She spent years in Direct Provision with her mum and siblings.

I believe that yes, people should educate themselves on the plight of others stuck in these DP systems. But more must happen now. The Irish government has to be committed to phasing out this system that has stripped people of their dignity and self-worth.

They should ensure that a quality first-instance decision on asylum is issued to applicants to forestall an endless stay in the system. They should also extend the right to work to all asylum seekers. Our families matter, our lives matter.

Owodunni is a writer and an aspiring poet and is founder of the Ballyhaunis Inclusion Project, a support group for asylum seekers across the country. Last year, she was honoured with the Christine Buckley Volunteer of the year award, courtesy of Volunteer Ireland. Some of Owodunni’s work includes “Up the hill in Mayo”, published in Correspondences and “The Unknown”, in MASI journal in 2019.

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47 Comments
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    Mute mac
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    Jun 9th 2020, 7:13 AM

    This needs to be sorted. It should only take a few weeks to complete an asylum application and if granted, a support package should be in place. If not granted back to point of origin. To many interest groups involved in holding up applications..

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    Mute Whoswho
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    Jun 9th 2020, 7:48 AM

    @mac: How much Media Attention does Direct Provision get? Daily articles from the journal. Does the homeless get as much attention or the extortionate rental market? I think not. Shows were FFG priorities are and it’s not with the Irish people

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    Mute Edwardson Mike
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    Jun 9th 2020, 7:51 AM

    @Whoswho: 2-4 Stories a day? Its getting very saturated most people are just scrolling by them now. No new effectiveness.

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    Mute NotaWarder
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    Jun 9th 2020, 8:03 AM

    @Whoswho: ah now, homelessness and the rental market got alot of articles too.

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    Mute Dave Phelan
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    Jun 9th 2020, 8:31 AM

    @Whoswho: for goodness sake this is not a competition detention centres and homelessness do not need to be lumped together and then ask which is more deserving! Both need sorting out!

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    Mute John R
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    Jun 9th 2020, 9:14 AM

    @Dave Phelan: DP are not detention centres. People can stay in DP or not stay in DP. If someone has been in the system for 6 years and don’t have the right to work then they have received multiple negative decisions.

    The most important thing that can be done for the system is to speed up decision making and cease the endless appeals. This is actually happening. Nigerians are unlikely to receive a grant of status. But if you hang around long enough in the system you end up staying indefinitely in Ireland.

    Yes there is racism between asylum seekers. Racism is not just a “white thing”. There is racism between Africans. It’s an enormous continent with many diverse counties and cultures. Racism is a human phenomena and needs to be tackled on that basis.

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    Mute Sam Greene
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    Jun 9th 2020, 9:39 AM

    @John R: well put. Years in DP is too long, if asylem is refused there are multiple appeals, that needs to be addressed. Decisions on seeking asylem needs to be faster, if a person is entitled to it , great, get them out of DP as fast as possible and start housing, jobs, ect. But if refused, then it must be dealt with quickly, this would stop the harahness of long term DP stay.
    There are faults on both sides, our country for expecting people to live in DP for years, and the person seeking asylem, for clogging up the system with appeals when they know they are not entitled to asylem.
    My heart goes out to anyone living in DP for all this time, it’s not right, but I also know there has to be checks, we cant take everyone, but this has to be speeded up, for everyone’s sakes.

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    Mute Slafella
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    Jun 9th 2020, 12:00 PM

    @Whoswho: There has been a load of articles in the media in the past week about Direct Provision, the Irish times hav had 5 in the past couple of days alone
    We are being softened up for an open door immigration system

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    Mute Kit Clarke
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    Jun 9th 2020, 7:14 PM

    @mac: We arent responsible for African, M.E. Albanian etc problems.
    We arent a super power. We are facing a depression and theres sh*t in pur rivers. Weve no subway/metro. Our health service is 3rd world. Weve a housing crisis. This is n9nsense. People are coming here, over 90% fail our process. But they dont go home. They stay, it must be illegal.

    Why are we doing the Great I Am? We are a tiny country, we cannot take in any more financial burdens. Close the border, stop housing nonEu immigrants. Yes STOP DP altogether. Stop funding NGOs the human trafficking industry. We owe a future and homes to IRISH. Indigenous Irish, massimmigration is not working out for IRISH in Ireland. Thats the only group we have to worry about. Deportations of failed asylum seekers, any foreign financial burdens are in order. Now, immediately. End Direct Provision, end housing non Irish in OUR council houses.

    Get rid of the traitors like Leo Varadkar and Chatlie Flanagan.

    55
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    Mute Hana Barbera
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    Jun 11th 2020, 4:08 PM

    @John R: I’d go further and say superiority and intolerance are the ultimate human phenomena. Those cover racism, nationalism, difference in looks and opinions, etc.

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    Mute Pat Coyne
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    Jun 9th 2020, 7:43 AM

    Defund the NGOs. There are too many coining in! Defund them Now.

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    Mute Abdul Rahim Elfatih
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    Jun 9th 2020, 10:36 AM

    @Pat Coyne: Its an industry at this stage, jobs for migrants to continually lobby our government, create daily reports on how terrible a country we are and keep accepting taxpayers money. Surely one immigration NGO would do…..just more scams

    256
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    Mute Mike Spillane
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    Jun 9th 2020, 1:49 PM

    @Pat Coyne: defund the NON GOVERNMENTAL ORGANISATIONS? How would that work, exactly?

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    Mute Pat Coyne
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    Jun 9th 2020, 3:31 PM

    @Mike Spillane: Don’t give them any taxpayers money and revoke their status as charities, that how it will work exactly – OK.

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    Mute Craic_a_tower
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    Jun 9th 2020, 9:11 AM

    Direct provision is nowhere near the same as abuse by nuns. Hearing something like that makes me angry

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    Mute John R
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    Jun 9th 2020, 9:27 AM

    @Craic_a_tower: Couldn’t agree more. It’s a highly manipulative argument. Nigeria is a country from which most asylum applicants fail to receive a grant of status. This is true EU wide. This lady has received multiple negative decisions. That’s why she is in DP so long. I am tired of the endless torrent of articles which only show one side of this complex issue and refuse to grapple with the awkward reality that the system is riven with abuse of process by applicants and fraud.

    But having said that the state needs to put more temporary funding and resources into processing asylum claims and providing speedy decisions. It would pay for itself. The issues around DP would cease to exist If we had rapid decisions and deportations. But that would require further reform.

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    Mute Sam Greene
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    Jun 9th 2020, 9:46 AM

    @Craic_a_tower: absolutely. Me too.

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    Mute Alex McDwyer
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    Jun 9th 2020, 10:22 AM

    In the system six years no doubt due to continued appeals when refugee status hasn’t been granted, which I notice is the bit that hasn’t been discussed in the piece.

    Instead of multiple appeals it should be a single appeal per family if they don’t have refugee status granted then remove them back to point of origin.

    We are constantly being told what a racist country we are at the minute with no media challenging that narrative. A lot of what’s pointed out above is kids been mean to each other but it happens every child unfortunately kids will be kids and some are mean.

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    Mute Fintan O'flaois
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    Jun 9th 2020, 12:10 PM

    More salient question; why are we processing applications from Nigeria, which is a safe country? There is sporadic religious violence in the Rivers State and Borno State, but 90% of the country does not duffer from political/religious persecution. I lived in Victoria Island in Lagos it’s a very tolerant and vibrant place and there is no justification for someone to travel to Europe to claim asylum, it’s bogus – why are we paying for this?

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    Mute Black Irish lives matter
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    Jun 9th 2020, 8:18 PM

    @Fintan O’flaois: safe for gay people is it? For women? For the poor? What planet were you on when you lived there? It’s ran by a fascist government ffs.

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    Mute David Fitzgerald
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    Jul 5th 2020, 1:04 AM

    @Fintan O’flaois: free housing and free money

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    Mute Slafella
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    Jun 9th 2020, 11:52 AM

    Owodunni Ola Mustapha’s story has a lot of holes in it ,the most glaring of which is how she actually got to this country. From reading her story you would think she just arrived here by some Star Trek technology. She has been here 6 years which would indicate that she has had multiple decisions that her asylum application was without merit and that she is now involved in the system of indefinitive appeals both administrative and judicial . She glosses over these glaring anomalies
    The DP was in place in 2014 when she miraculously arrived and a simple Google search would have informed her of what she could expect if she turned up in Ireland looking for asylum .
    Her attempts to find some connection between the death of a violent criminal 6000km away and her circumstances are very tenuous to say the least .
    And her use of her children as some sort of emotional battering to get what she wants is absolutely disgusting .

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    Mute DK
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    Jun 9th 2020, 10:00 AM

    I don’t see how direct provision is in any way racist just because most people who seek asylum here are of other races. Aren’t Georgia and Albania two of the highest nationalities seeking asylum here? They are mainly white nationality countries I thought.

    The system is too slow though, make quicker decisions and either allowed stay or back to the country you arrived here from.

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    Mute Frank Mc Caffery
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    Jun 9th 2020, 11:45 AM

    Woah there, her first port of call where exactly??

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    Mute Longlin
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    Jun 9th 2020, 8:50 AM

    Firstly, no kids or people should be racially abused like this and if there is evidence, it should be investigated and prosecuted/sanctioned. Secondly, the whole direct provision is a joke of a system. There should not be endless appeals after your original application has been turned down (6 years in the system is ridiculous). In the meantime kids are born into a state of limbo. Much fairer on them if they either go home or are in some cases given asylum if they are in danger at home. I understand that many end up leaving the system when given a right to stay rather than refugee status. To top it all off, there’s no requirement to work or educate yourself and the state again may step in to support these people. The icing on the cake then is a family holiday back to their country

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    Mute Abdul Rahim Elfatih
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    Jun 9th 2020, 10:33 AM

    The abuse of these kids is disgusting and should not be tolerated. The big question here is has she appealed a decision to deport her and her family?? If so she should accept it. How much in DP, Legal, Education, Healthcare is somebody who continually appeals these decisions costing the Irish Taxpayer.
    Also when she included ‘asylum seekers’ from Albania and Georgia she lost even more credibility, they are economic migrants looking to get everything for free. Albania is an EU accession state and Georgia on the edge of Europe is a safe country

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    Mute Slafella
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    Jun 9th 2020, 11:55 AM

    @Abdul Rahim Elfatih: I agree , the way she uses her children as an emotional battering ram to get what she wants is disgusting and should be investigated by child protection services

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    Mute Dan Ryan
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    Jun 9th 2020, 1:56 PM

    Who remembers Pamela (Scamela)Izevbekhai , one of our most famous Nigerian chancers ,and her many supporters in media and politics .She was the darling of the media including RTE, especially that smug eejit Philip Boucher Hayes , and the Irish Times until she was exposed as a complete chancer by the so called gutter press (Sun or the Star )
    She cost the state hundreds of thousands of Euros in appeals and judicial reviews .
    Sure the national broadcaster had a program about Scamela. It was produced by mr Philip Boucher Hayes,the noted expert on the Nigerian Telephone Directory. It was more than one programme though. The irony of RTE broadcasting a programme entitled “Would You Believe?” featuring Pamela was obviously lost on RTE management
    Mr Boucher Hayes if I remember correctly whilst being interviewed on the matter hinted about alleged state oppression as the excuse for why the doctor said the documents were false, (Nigerian AND Irish) and became extremely defensive when asked how exactly he got Ms Izevbekhais gynaecologists details….some investigative journalist he is. Just another overpaid, underworked leftist pontificating about leftism and masquerading as a journalist.

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    Mute Greg Daniel
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    Jun 9th 2020, 12:13 PM

    The article states “The Irish Government has to be committed to phasing out this system that has stripped people of their dignity and self-worth”

    It always appears the accepting country, the so called ‘normal’ country, which is generally a western country, is to blame for asylum seekers being stripped of their “dignity and self-worth”

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    Mute Michael Patrick Newell
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    Jun 9th 2020, 11:41 AM

    Defund the likes of the Immigrant Council of Ireland, rework the whole system on asylum, limit appeals and speed up decisions, cap the amount of money that the money hungry legal profession can make from these cases. Launch an Investigation into the political connections that are associated with these grubby developers who are using the direction provision as a way to make money at the taxpayers expense.

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    Mute Chewns
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    Jun 9th 2020, 1:36 PM

    Comparing Direct Provision to the Magdalene Laundries is some insult to throw at us.
    Ignorance at it best.

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    Mute Barry Cahill
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    Jun 9th 2020, 4:17 PM

    @Chewns: Just as ignorant as abusive language being aimed at her children, if that even really happened…

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    Mute An Bhfuil Cead Agam?
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    Jun 9th 2020, 6:54 PM

    What a whinge. No gratitude shown for free accommodation, food, healthcare, education, travel, clothing, legal aid and a cash payment. With no bills, she has a net income of €80per week approximately. Serious factual error: refugees from Syria and Iraq are treated separately in a dedicated UN programme. They’re not treated in the same way as economic migrants from Georgia, Albania or elsewhere.

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    Mute FlopFlipU
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    Jun 9th 2020, 7:30 AM

    A case very well put and the answer is the government don’t know what to do ,in my estimation .The money is not there to improve the situation .We can shout the money is not there to look after our own homeless let alone the people in these camps ,I would like to think that system is being run properly but six years is a long time particularly in a child’s life .I find it difficult to be locked down for a few months let alone years .We need someone clever to figure this situation fast or the next generation will suffer

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    Mute Dáinéil Ó hÍobhair
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    Jun 9th 2020, 8:34 AM

    @FlopFlipU: The money is there, or at least was until Covid-19 came. The issue in this country is how and where money is spent. The government constantly say they don’t have money for this or that but can spend 2 billion on a children’s hospital and take legal action against having to get 13 billion out of Apple. It’s corruption and a lack of empathy for the vulnerable in society whether they be asylum seekers, the disabled, the homeless, the sick, the elderly and the like.

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    Mute FlopFlipU
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    Jun 9th 2020, 8:59 AM

    @Dáinéil Ó hÍobhair: we owe 200 billion + so the money is there you say ,one of us is wrong for sure and I hope it is me I agree that there is a mismanagement problem because the people running the economy are incapable of doing their job .Bare in mind that the country has roughly 5 million people ,we have a army a police force a Air Force as such we are overflowing with ministers ,government workers and all that goes with it ,all necessary to some extent but not actually productive in my mind anyway .The nub of this is we DONT have the money

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    Mute Eugene Comaskey
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    Jun 9th 2020, 9:08 AM

    @FlopFlipU: But the problem as I see it is, – Decisions not being made on Applications, no point in taking these people and running them into Overcrowded accommodation and then doing nothing about them. I cannot understand why the paperwork is not completed promptly and make the Decision. Are the Officers in charge of this Afraid to make decisions? Everyone should be processed within 6 to 9 months at most.

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    Mute John R
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    Jun 9th 2020, 9:22 AM

    @Eugene Comaskey: In most cases the paperwork can be completed in 6-9 months. The problem is that the system inherited a massive backlog when it was reformed in 2015. That reform streamlined the procedures but dumped an enormous number of cases from the old system that had to be started afresh.

    Many applicants have destroyed their documentation and ID papers. It can be difficult to establish nationality never mind country of origin. In such circumstances the deciding officer has to build a robust case for making their decision and adhere to all the legal and constitutional norms. Decisions are actually speeding up. But more investment in this area would undoubtedly help.

    I see very few people who are arguing against DP making the case for speedier initial decisions. Strange that.

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    Mute Peter O'Muiri
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    Jun 24th 2020, 12:25 PM

    @Eugene Comaskey: The decision on the credibility of applications is typically given within 6 months if the applicant co-operates with the process (doesn’t destroy documentation, or fails to appear at hearings, or ‘goes to ground’). There is then an appeal against refusal for which the applicant receives free legal aid and a barrister who needs to be briefed and the appeal prepared. This appeal (if the applicant co-operates) typically takes 6 to 8 months after which a final decision is delivered on the credibility and merit of the application. Unfortunately, Irish law provides almost infinite opportunities to failed asylum-seekers to delay their deportation by bringing serial High Court judicial reviews on the legal technicalities of the orders made against them. Added to this is the persistence of appellants failing to appear at proceedings, failed asylum-seekers going to ground or disappearing to make applications for asylum in other countries – only to appear later to renew their court proceedings, and even violent resistance to attempts to deport.
    If we are to curtail these abuses we will need a Minister for Justice, Judges, and immigration officers of extraordinary resolution.

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    Mute Kit Clarke
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    Jun 9th 2020, 6:39 PM

    I look around and see in Wicklow people living in a 4 star hotel, handed their good food. In fact the place is supposed to be full, but there’s hardly anyone ever in there. Not many lights on, but anyway I know for a FACT there arent many there. They are off in Dublin or *wherever having a right old holiday.
    If this isnt good enough, if theyre used to better than a 4 star hotel in Nigeria, theyve no business here. Where is the WAR in Nigeria?? Albania is another one we get all theseeconomic migrants from..

    Why do Irish people feel responsible for Africans, Albanian, Georgian etc?? Why are we paying for this? I see theyre wearing the best clothes, some are driving. L plates up, how are they insured? Then theyre given council houses, and each one of these economic migrants gets thousands of euro to fit it out. There’s no support for struggling Irish single mothers, hence so many Irish woyld rather abort their baby. No future for Irish in Ireland.The stigma of having a b asby you cant afford! But no problem for a person from outside Ireland to arrive with a clatter of children they cant feed. This is anti Irish discrimination.

    We have too many people living here who arent indigenous Irish. We need to start deporting failed asylum seekers, deport anyone here who isnt Irish but on the dole or HAP or Family Payment. Deport people who come here and commit crime, 1st & 2nd generation.

    There is NO onus on Irish to permanently support financial burdens, to house non Irish. ENOUGH!!!
    End this nonsense that people arrive here and a magic wand is waved and theyre supposed to be Irish. Here foever? No such thing as a temporary bailout.

    Would you stop it, that doesnt happen in Nigeria, China, Africa. It’s just the human trafficking NGOs pulling another fast one. End DP and close the borders. No more immigrants who are not paying their way.

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    Mute Coimeádach na hÉireann
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    Jun 9th 2020, 8:07 AM

    The current policy has definitely led to corruption. Europe has long attempted to create centres of international protection in transit countries. It has lacked the cohesive leadership to get it accomplished. The most recent round of discussions has highlighted that the current system is beneficial to none.

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    Mute Richard Russell
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    Jun 9th 2020, 3:54 PM

    Not for the first time the journal deleted my comment We can have free speech as long as it is journalistic free speech

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    Mute Kit Clarke
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    Jun 9th 2020, 7:24 PM

    @mac: We arent responsible for African, M.E. Albanian etc problems.
    We arent a super power. We are facing a depression and theres sh*t in pur rivers. Weve no subway/metro. Our health service is 3rd world. We’ve a housing crisis. This is nonsense. People are coming here, over 90% fail our process. But they dont go home. They stay, it must be illegal.

    Why are we doing the Great I Am? We are a tiny country, we cannot take in any more financial burdens. Close the border, stop housing nonEu immigrants. Yes STOP DP altogether. Stop funding NGOs the human trafficking industry. We owe a future and homes to IRISH. Indigenous Irish, massimmigration is not working out for IRISH in Ireland. Thats the only group we have to worry about. Deportations of failed asylum seekers, any foreign financial burdens are in order. Now, immediately. End Direct Provision, end housing non Irish in OUR council houses.

    Get rid of the traitors like Leo Varadkar and Chatlie Flanagan.
    Where’s free speech? I keep getting bs cant say this cant say that. Theyll post any abuse of Gemma O Doherty but no criticism of scammers coming to Ireland is allowed.

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    Mute Dan Ryan
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    Jun 9th 2020, 7:54 PM

    At least her opinion piece is open to comments unlike the coward Bernard Joyce of the Irish Traveller Movement.
    So Ms Mustapha deserves some kudos for that

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    Mute Kit Clarke
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    Jun 9th 2020, 7:21 PM

    @mac: We arent responsible for African, M.E. Albanian etc problems.
    We arent a super power. We are facing a depression and theres sh*t in pur rivers. Weve no subway/metro. Our health service is 3rd world. We’ve a housing crisis. This is nonsense. People are coming here, over 90% fail our process. But they dont go home. They stay, it must be illegal.

    Why are we doing the Great I Am? We are a tiny country, we cannot take in any more financial burdens. Close the border, stop housing nonEu immigrants. Yes STOP DP altogether. Stop funding NGOs the human trafficking industry. We owe a future and homes to IRISH. Indigenous Irish, massimmigration is not working out for IRISH in Ireland. Thats the only group we have to worry about. Deportations of failed asylum seekers, any foreign financial burdens are in order. Now, immediately. End Direct Provision, end housing non Irish in OUR council houses.

    Get rid of the traitors like Leo Varadkar and Chatlie Flanagan.

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    Mute Dan Ryan
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    Jun 9th 2020, 7:59 PM

    At least the opinion piece is open to comments unlike the coward Bernard Joyce of the Irish Traveller Movement 
    So Ms Mustapha deserves some credit for that although comparing her to Mr Joyce is setting the bar pretty low

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    Mute Paul O' Sullivan
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    Jun 11th 2020, 7:27 PM

    Why the hell don’t they just leave Ireland if it is so awful here?

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