A NUMBER OF politicians within the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party have raised concerns this evening about the nature of the anti-immigrant protests that are taking place around the country.
Tonight’s party meeting, the first Micheál Martin has attended since becoming Tánaiste, heard eight to ten contributions from members who raised concerns about the system’s ability to cope and resourcing, as well as the nature of demonstrations.
Sources state that there was no mention of a cap on the number of refugees coming into the country, with concerns instead centering around misinformation being spread in their areas, but also the lack of communication from the Department of Integration.
One attendee said the message from the meeting was “we need to worry about this and monitor it”.
The issue of pressure on resources within some communities, such as schools and GP services, was also highlighted, with some politicians critical of the department’s handling of the crisis.
Martin is understood to have told members that he understood that the issue was “sensitive” adding that the numbers arriving into Ireland are unprecedented. “He told us he got it and acknowledged that resources was an issue,” said one TD.
Another TD described how the situation in some areas is “extremely worrying” with local representatives struggling to deal with the ever-changing situation.
“It is very worrying, the ground has shifted so quickly in the space of ten days. It’s a real tinderbox,” said another, who added that there are real worries among politicians that someone could get hurt, either a member of the public or a public representative.
They said it is difficult to understand how the situation has shifted so rapidly, but they were seeing it in all of their constituencies.
It was raised that the level of funding to integrate communities would not make a difference, with one TD stating that the money should be used for a social media campaign by the government to counteract some of the misinformation being spread.
Once a piece of false information is doing the rounds about a local building being used to house refugees, politicians say they are receiving countless phone calls from constituents. However, members said that often time they do not have the full facts from the department to counteract such rumours.
The meeting also heard that a number of politicians are understood to have reached out to the Garda liaison officer who deals with security issues regarding public representatives over concerns about their personal safety and the targeting of their family homes.
There were some criticisms of the party leader with one stating that “he hasn’t a clue” what is happening on the ground in communities. Another said there is a real risk in dubbing all protestors in these areas as “far-right” stating that there is a worry that the “middle ground can get sucked in very quickly”.
Meanwhile, at the Fine Gael parliamentary party meeting, one focus was on the issue of historic disability payments, with Taoiseach Leo Varadkar saying the government will get to the bottom of the problem.
Last night, RTÉ Investigates revealed that 12,000 vulnerable people were denied Disabled Persons’ Maintenance Allowance (DPMA) and that legal advice provided to the Government showed that if they took a case against the State, they were likely to succeed.
However, Varadkar told Fine Gael members tonight that the facts would be gathered before any decisions would be made and claimed that leaked draft memos being selectively quoted, as he described it, don’t give the true story of what may have occurrred in the past.
Similarly, in relation to the state’s legal strategy regarding the private nursing home charges controversy, Varadkar outlined that he has asked the Attorney General to prepare a report.
He told members that the government is seeking all relevant documents but that be believes Government acted lawfully.
The Fine Gael meeting also discussed cost of living measures and should be prioritised in future supports for homes and businesses.
The parliamentary party elected Senator Garret Ahearn as its new vice-chair.
Additional reporting by Lauren Boland
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