Asking migrants in Dublin why they're in Ireland

You may remember we recently visited Ireland to cover the surge of migrants and asylum seekers that have arrived in the country. While we were there, in the heart of beautiful Dublin, the city has developed a boardwalk running along the canal.

I saw footage online from that boardwalk, where it seemed like it was a meeting place for foreigners who are in Ireland as asylum seekers or temporary foreign workers.

Being something of a skeptic, I thought: is that true? So, while we were in Dublin, we spent some time at the boardwalk, talking to literally every single person we met.

My first question was always the same: where are you from? We did speak to some Irish, but some of the other countries people told us they were from included Moldova, India, the Philippines, Pakistan, Romania, Egypt, China, Nepal, Latvia, Angola, Romania, Czechia, the Netherlands and Argentina.

As you might expect from such a wide array of people, their stories on why they came to Ireland, how long they'd been in the country and their employment status varied. Some had been in the country for decades; others had only arrived days ago. Some said they had jobs, while others said they were in between work, on disability or receiving other government benefits. 

Some, like the woman who came from Latvia, said they were Irish citizens. The man from Pakistan, who said he'd arrived by ship very recently, said the area he fled in Pakistan was “always under attack from the Taliban.”

With many migrants camping out on the streets of Dublin, one of the local Irish people we spoke to said the housing issue existed before the surge of migrants. “It's more of a landlord issue and current government issue,” he said. “I'd say it's nothing to do with immigrants. The lack of resources isn't coming from immigrants, it's from our government.”

One common theme we heard was that the Irish people are very friendly and welcoming of foreigners. 

“Friendly, nice, easy going,” said a man from Romania. “I go to a pub, they like to speak with me, I like to speak with them. We are very good friends, we can make jokes together.”

With that in mind, we asked him if he felt people could be too friendly, to the point they could be taken advantage of. He agreed, and said it was a “scam” people have been running. 

But as Irish citizens have begun pushing back against the influx of migrants, the Romanian man felt “any country” would feel the same, calling it a “normal reaction.”

You can see all of our coverage from Ireland at MigrantReports.com.

Ezra Levant

Rebel Commander

Ezra Levant is the founder and owner of Rebel News and the host of The Ezra Levant Show. He is the author of multiple best-selling books including Ethical Oil and most recently, China Virus.