Ireland is currently grappling with a significant surge in immigration, leading to widespread societal unrest and challenges to national identity. Recent data indicates that approximately 150,000 individuals moved to Ireland between 2023 and 2024, marking the highest influx in 17 years. Notably, only 30,000 of these were returning Irish citizens, with the remainder comprising asylum seekers and refugees from regions such as Africa, the Middle East, and Ukraine.
This dramatic increase has placed immense pressure on Ireland's housing and social services. The number of international protection applicants has risen to nearly 33,000, a stark contrast to the 7,244 recorded in 2017. The financial burden is substantial, with each asylum seeker costing the nation nearly £70 per day, an amount that has escalated by a third over the past two years. Alarmingly, at the end of last year, the Irish Refugee Council reported a record 3,001 asylum seekers experiencing homelessness.
The rapid demographic shift has ignited tensions across the country. Dublin, in particular, has witnessed violent incidents, including clashes involving weapons and large-scale brawls. In smaller towns, the sudden establishment of asylum centres has led to continuous protests and confrontations with law enforcement. For instance, in Newtown Mount Kennedy, County Wicklow, the conversion of a former convent into an asylum center sparked 24/7 protests and violent clashes with police.
The strain extends beyond housing; essential services such as healthcare are also under pressure. The government's Project Ireland 2040 initiative, unveiled in 2018, anticipated nearly two million additional residents by 2040, requiring an estimated £96 billion investment in infrastructure and housing. However, the current rate of immigration has far exceeded these projections, exacerbating existing challenges.
From a nationalist perspective, this situation is a threat to Ireland's cultural identity and social cohesion. The rapid influx of non-native populations is diluting traditional Irish values and overburdening the nation's resources. The government's policies have prioritised accommodating newcomers over addressing the needs of native citizens, leading to increased homelessness, strained public services, and social unrest. The escalating tensions underscore the urgent need for a reassessment of immigration policies to preserve Ireland's national identity and ensure the well-being of its citizens.
"Ireland has exploded into a wave of violence as anti-migrant anger is at an all time high – after the number of people applying to come into the country rocketed by nearly 300% in five years.
Shocking new videos show Dublin descending into chaos – with fighting thugs throwing themselves into busses, knife fights on their streets and mass brawls sparking in residential roads.
In others, men patrol the capital to keep the city 'safe' while police can be seen using riot shields and pepper spray as they crack down on protests.
As many as 150,000 people moved to Ireland in 2023-24, Central Statistics Office (CSO) figures revealed, the highest number in 17 years – with many of them accommodated in poor areas of Central Dublin or small provincial towns. Only 30,000 of these were returning Irish citizens.
There are now nearly 33,000 international protection applicants being housed across the nation, up from 7,244 in 2017. Alongside arrivals from Africa and the Middle East, 100,000 refugees flocked to the country following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Each costs the nation nearly £70 a day, a figure that has increased by a third in two years. At the end of last year the Irish Refugee Council revealed there were a record 3,001 asylum seekers homeless in Ireland. …
Once sleepy towns are now homes to hundreds of asylum seekers while tent cities have been set up along Dublin's Grand Canal.
And with far-Right sentiment at fever pitch the country is on a knife edge – with even Ireland's Left-wing politicians admitting that the influx of migrants was driving a spike in homelessness. …
Last year… anti-immigration protesters sparked chaos across Dublin, throwing petrol bombs, torching cars and setting fire to a paint factory that was due to host 550 asylum seekers. …
Ireland was left reeling after as many as 500 thugs launched an anti-migrant rampage, gathering close to some of the city's most iconic locations with some waving flags and brandishing signs reading "Irish Lives Matter".
Some of the rioters started a fire on the ground floor of a Holiday Inn Express following rumours that migrants were staying there. Others reportedly petrol-bombed a nearby refugee centre…
The anger against migrants can also be seen at local communities across Ireland.
In Newtown Mount Kennedy, a small town in Co. Wicklow, to the south of Dublin, a former convent has been turned into a holding centre for people seeking asylum.
Protests were held 24/7 outside the property when the plan was first announced, with attempts to disperse the crowd resulting in violent clashes with police.
People from Somalia, Sudan and Nigeria have been temporarily housed in makeshift marquee-style tents on an estate separated from the local population by a 10ft-tall fence. …
The two key issues – housing and healthcare – had both been hit by the surge in population.
House prices are more than a tenth up on the previous property boom in 2007, while the average rent has risen by 43% in five years. And despite locals not being put on the same housing lists as arriving migrants, many blamed them for a dearth of places. …
As the Government admitted not all immigrants could be given homes, a tent city was created in Dublin stretching around the International Protection Office and continuing along the road. …
This huge figure was intended to be used to expand cities and settle rural areas, although it has quickly been left in the dust as the number of arrivals has reached more than double the initial estimates