Asylum seekers in firing line as racists torch hotels
JBut it is a sad state of affairs when an unoccupied hotel in Leitrim – earmarked for refugees – goes up in flames and the majority of us know in our hearts it was the work of racists.
I wish it was somehow possible to downplay the suspicious Rooskey hotel fire as being a one-off error of judgment.
Sadly, it can’t be so easily dismissed.
Unfortunately, there is a clear disturbing pattern emerging here – with someone also destroying the Caiseal Mara Hotel in Moville, Co Donegal, last November.
It is in this county where Peter Casey lives, who was accused of racism during the presidential campaign over his contentious comments about the Travelling
Peter Casey community. Regardless of whatever you may or may not think about the Dragons’ Den TV star, I certainly believe we can all agree he would never condone such an unforgivable racist act.
For we are talking here about someone who experienced the shoe on the other foot himself and was welcomed as an immigrant into Australia and America where he made his fortune.
Considering Ireland’s own tragic history with our forefathers forced to escape on coffin ships to America, it makes it even all the more appalling how any Irish person would desire to deny shelter to Syrians fleeing for their lives.
But that is exactly what occurred when those sinister arsonists made the two hotels uninhabitable for a small group of asylum seekers, including distraught mothers and young children.
How would Irish history look today if our forefathers in the 19th century had not been welcomed with open arms into America?
There is absolutely no difference between the plight our ancestors faced in the famine and what Syrians are experiencing now – as both episodes can be described as mass genocide.
At least one million Irish died from starvation and disease back then and another forced to flee the We must do more to help refugees in Leitrim and Donegal probably wore balaclavas instead of going round dressed up like a KKK clansman, but that’s really only a subtle difference.
As the old adage goes– if the shoe fits, wear it – and racism is racism no matter how you try to dress it up.
In my book, these fires can only be classified as a hate crime.
And those responsible should be reprimanded as such if arrested, rather than a lesser sentence for simple arson. But I wouldn’t hold my breath.
MEP Liadh Ni Riada told me last night: “This shameful act of violence targeted some of the most vulnerable people and should be condemned in the strongest terms.
“Anti-refugee sentiment has been fuelled by misinformation peddled by sensationalist media and opportunistic politicians.
“Migrants and refugees are not the cause of any of the hardships we face as a society.”
Some argue we should be looking after our own kind first and getting our homeless off the streets, instead of giving shelter to refugees.
But this simply doesn’t wash because in reality there shouldn’t even be a homeless crisis, especially with Leo Varadkar recently boasting about a surprise €100million budget surplus in
Caiseal Mara hotel 2018. I’d imagine such an astronomical sum would easily solve the homeless crisis.
We’re not even taking in our honest fair share of refugees either, which is something I cannot even begin to comprehend given our own dark history.
I suppose this really comes as little surprise when you consider Ireland, unlike most other EU countries, has no legal obligation to take in refugees because we negotiated an opt-out clause in the Lisbon Treaty.
We should be ashamed by how Ireland’s refugees quotas proportionally lags behind our EU counterparts.
Refugees always do their best to integrate as much as possible and have successfully done so when given the opportunity in Ireland.
But they’re certainly going to feel much less welcome here after these two fires.
These unfortunate souls are traumatised and grief-stricken enough as it is – so the last thing they need is to be burdened with such added fears.
So much for cead mile failte – it seems more like cead mile f*** off.
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