FRONTBENCH SINN FÉIN TD Eoin Ó Broin has defended his party’s stance that people fleeing the war in Ukraine should not have their temporary protection extended until 2027. 

Last week, the Irish Government signed off on plans to support a proposal to extend the temporary protection directive for refugees from Ukraine until March 2027. 

The directive, which enables those fleeing the war in Ukraine to live, work and study in Ireland, was due to expire in March 2026. 

In a press statement issued last week in response to the Government’s decision, Sinn Féin’s justice spokesperson TD Matt Carthy said it was a “mistake” and “problematic” to keep the emergency measure in place. 

The Cavan Monaghan TD said it is “now time to treat those fleeing war in Ukraine the same as all others fleeing war and persecution”.  

He said the decision to extend the protection has “huge implications for Ireland and yet there has been absolutely no discussion on it”.

He said Sinn Féin’s position is that there should be a return to “ordinary, permanent immigration rules which apply to all other states” and that a person who benefits from temporary protection should be supported to return to Ukraine if they are from a part of Ukraine “that is found to be safe”. 

“Beneficiaries who are from unsafe parts of the Ukraine would apply for International Protection and others who wish to continue to stay here could also apply for work-based permits to reside here,” Carthy said.

Asked today by The Journal how Sinn Féin would differentiate between parts of Ukraine that are safe and parts that aren’t, Ó Broin said: “Those decisions are made every day in the international protection system”.

Asked to expand on the rationale behind Sinn Féin’s position more generally, Ó Broin said people from Ukraine need to be provided with a pathway from temporary protection to “full residency”. 

“That’s beginning to happen already, and we’re beginning to see a number of Ukrainians apply for and secure international protection.

“Temporary protection is always meant to be temporary, and therefore people need to have a pathway to legalise their status if that’s what they want to do, and that’s why we’d like to kind of move out of the temporary phase and into something a little bit more secure,” he said.

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