Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
EVERY WEEK, TheJournal.ie offers a selection of statistics and numerical nuggets to help you digest the week that has just passed.
0 – The number of 1c and 2c coins being used in Wexford town as part of a Central Bank trial to see if Ireland should phase out the use of the tiny coins.
0.4 – The percentage by which Ireland’s economy grew in the second quarter of this year, meaning that Ireland has technically emerged from recession this week.
1 – The number of women bishops in Ireland, after the Church of Ireland appointed Reverend Pat Storey to oversee Meath and Kildare.
19 – The number of hours it took to pull the submerged Costa Concordia upright during a complicated operation off the coast of Italy earlier this week. The ship will be towed away next year.
25 – The percentage of three-year-olds in Ireland who are overweight or obese, according to the Growing Up in Ireland study.
43 – The number of years that three teenagers had been missing from an Oklahoma town before their bodies were discovered in a submerged car in a lake on Tuesday. The three friends had disappeared after heading to a school football game.
60 – The height in feet of a big yellow duck which is currently harboured in a er, harbour in Taiwan. The bath-toy replica will be on display for a month.
62 – The number of years since Mayo won the All-Ireland Football Final. The team will be hoping to overcome Dublin – who last won in 2011 – in tomorrow’s final.
63 – The percentage of secondary school teachers in the ASTI who voted in favour of rejecting the Haddington Road agreement on Friday, sparking the likelihood of industrial action at schools.
79 – The percentage of people in Ireland who are against supporting military intervention in Syria, according to a Red C poll.
188 – The amount in euros that Ryanair are to refund Dr Muhammad Taufiq Al Sattar after the Dublin-based neurosurgeon was told he would have to pay extra to switch flights during the week. He was flying to England after his wife and three sons were killed in a house fire.
1,000,000,000 – The amount of money in euros the Government is hoping to get from the sale of Bord Gais Energy, which is due to be confirmed in the next three months. The money will be used to pay down debt and for job creation measures.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
While we all have sympathy with people fleeing conflict and poverty, why should Europe be the default destination for everyone? In the case of Syria, Iraq etc, they are bordered by oil rich nations such as Saudi, Dubai & Abu Dhabi, countries who they have more in common with in terms of culture and religion. I don’t see those countries stepping up to the plate to help their immediate neighbours yet we’re expected to? I accept that a lot of the problems in these countries originate from Western meddling in their affairs, namely the US and their lapdogs in the UK but of course they conveniently forget their culpability when the chips are down.
@Paul Shepherd: you do realize the biggest intakes of refugees from these regions are countries in those regions, e.g Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey, ?
@Purdo: biggest hosts and nations that take in refugees *
@Paul Shepherd: I had this very same conversation with someone from the middle east on Facebook. He was complaining that Europe didn’t treat Syrian rufgees as well as Ukrainian. I pointed out that Ukraine is part of Europe and that none of the rich Emirate countries took any refugees from the region. Incidentally I had no issues with us taking Syrian refugees but I got pissed off when their wealthy neighbours did nothing.
@Purdo: yes those countries stepped up. Of the 3 only Jordan could be considered wealthy. But many countries with more wealth than any European country did nothing.
@Gearóid MacEachaidh: Why should we want to emulate the Saudis and the Emirs?
@Gearóid MacEachaidh: Bosnia is part of Europe, how much did we help them? Oh yeah, they are not ‘white, Christian Europeans’
@Paul Shepherd: the vast majority of refugees from Syria and Iraq ended up in neighbouring countries, just not the US client states that you mentioned.
It was very polite of you to admit that the refuge crises in both countries were as a result of western(US) meddling, but surely you can understand how it must be very annoying for Asian countries to see the west continually fight wars in Asia that have an adverse affect on the whole of Asia, but, when a war erupts in Europe(again as a result of US meddling)the west expects the whole world to come to a standstill because the people getting killed are white European instead of expendable Asians and the refugee tide is flowing into Europe.
You must realise Europe looks a very small place when viewed from Asia.
@GClare: the West did help Bosnia. They went to war against an Orthodox country to protect a Muslim country. They created no fly zones to protect the refugees. You might say a bit late but it was done. And now the West are blamed for starting so many wars.
@Richard Williamson: and yet gave half the country to the Orthodox aggressors. The UN turned back civilians as they reached no man’s land and sent them back through the mine fields. How many countries took in any real number of Bosniaks, bar Germany.
One of the key distinctions between Ukraine and other parts of the world is that this was a clear invasion. Syria and Yemen for example are Civil wars and there is far more of a grey zone. Ukraine’s martial law has also prevented military age men from leaving, which is one of the bugbears of those against refugees from other conflict zones who have fled. Predominantly women, children and elderly refugees has been more palatable for western Europe.
@SilexFlint: civil war and invasion can and do sometimes interlink, Syria is under a civil war, but has being invaded, at least in regions ypg/sdf controlled areas, and for some opponents of assad in Syria, they see russian, and Iranian assistance of assads regime and troops there as invasion for their country.
@SilexFlint: Protecting refugees should be about protecting individuals from disaster. What relevance has the geopolitical context to whether these are people worthy of protection?
@Nicholas McMurry: Because we can’t take everyone, and their neighbours should take them in more so than us if they are from a far off region.
@SilexFlint: It’s not a bugbear, it’s an obvious sign of economic migration vs refuge. If it’s mostly young men arriving seeking “asylum” then you know it’s bogus. No one seeking genuine asylum leaves their women and children in the country they had to flee. That’s preposterous tripe that we ought not to swallow.
@SilexFlint: I’m surprised that military age men were prevented from leaving Ukraine. Many refugees from Ukraine included men of military age though not necessarily born there. You say that women, children and elderly refugees are more “palatable” but surely the most vulnerable are most in need of help. Many refugees in past years have been men of military age who sometimes have problems integrating to their host countries and following laws there. This means that host countries cannot always guarantee safety for more vulnerable refugees such as women and children.
@SilexFlint: our media says it was a clear unprovoked invasion….that’s why most people say, and believe the same. The media is controlled by the establishment…. all other views are demonised, ignored are the US funded overthrow of a government the rise of Ukrainian nationalism and russophobia … the defensive breakaway by, Crimea, donbas, Luhansk , the election promises of Zelenskyy the Minsk agreement, the issue of NATO…. were the Russians expected to stand by and witness the reported killing of 14 000 people in Donbas?? the most dangerous development is the demise of judicial thinking….
@Fergus Quinlan: are you for real? What Russian propaganda feed have you signed up to? Crimea, donbas, luhansk are all part of Ukraine and Russia has effectively funded dissidents in these regions to foment an uprising so they could kind of justify going in and invading a sovereign country. It doesn’t matter if some of these people feel more Russian, the point is they are living in Ukraine. If they want to live in Russia and be Russia move to Russia. It would be like UK invading us because some people here felt brittish and didn’t like the establishment government. Your a few slices short of a full pan if you think anything different.
Even I’m not taking this on! But I will say, asylum seeker/economic migrant/refugee from conflict are not interchangeable terms, nor are they interchangeable statuses. When you get a music journalist to write on such things, maybe it should be borne in mind.
No matter the circumstances, the woke will always take the opportunity to play the race card.
@Shaner Mac: Every day. Every minute. It’s a mind virus.
@Shaner Mac: What does woke mean?
@Tommy Berry: you don’t like white people (even if you’re one), you believe there is only one gender, anyone who transgresses must never, ever be forgiven etc
The media a few months ago telling us we shud open our homes to refugees from Ukraine. Now they’re telling us we’re racist for doing so.
@Simon: Where does he say that we should not be opening our homes to Ukrainians?
Why are only progressive opinion pieces published on the Journal??
Do these progressives ever get sick of peddling guilt?
I am a progressive, but the author clearly has a divisive and utterly false agenda!
Bore off.
I work with refugees and it is very obvious that there is a two tier system. This article states the truth and it does not throw blame if you read it carefully.
I can’t help but think this article is based on idealism and fantasy in its naivety. It operates on tbe idea that Ireland is actually capable, by design, of helping any refugee, evacuee or Joe looking for a better life. Any dog on the street knows Ireland acts and reacts purely by default (let’s not even mention at the behest of its overlords) and is always and forever on the back foot. The proof of this is how it manages its own business (re: the usual list of dire fails). How can it truly help x when it fails at y? Oh yeah!… It’s house proud.
Worth pointing out that Saudi Arabia, UAE, Turkey etc or China, Japan elsewhere have not offered to take in Ukrainian refugees nor did they take in refugees from Syria either except for Turkey. I doubt there is a debate going on about this in those countries. It makes sense refugees would be primarily accommodated in countries close to their home country.
Very well said. Thanks. The hypocrisy is awful and the unfairness unacceptable.
There is indeed a two-tier system – and it is for a logical and justifiable reason. Ukrainians are fleeing a war on the borders of the EU, of which jurisdiction Ireland belongs. We know exactly where they are coming from, and the fact they are genuine refugees. In the circumstances, to subject Ukrainians to the asylum assessment process is unnecessary, and would be a complete waste of resources.
On the other hand, people turning up on our borders to claim asylum alleging persecution in far away places are in a different situation, and it is necessary to assess the credibility of their claims as to their veracity before giving them refugee status and the rights which go with that status. That is the rule of international law. It is also noteworthy that upon assessment, more than two thirds of this latter group are found to have no credible claim to refugee status, and have abused a system that exists to protect the persecuted of this world. Of course, for the one third of this cohort who can show a credible case for asylum or international protection we provide the same rights as we give to Ukrainians (in fact, we give them permanent residency status with a route to full citizenship – Ukrainians have a mere two year’s residence) – regardless of race, creed, or colour.
The writer of this piece ignores the real difference between Ukrainian refugees and the migrants appearing at our frontiers claiming asylum or protection. We already know where the Ukrainians are coming from, and the fact there is a war in their country. Given these facts it would be a complete waste of resources to require Ukrainians to have the credibility of their refugee status assessed.
Not so with asylum seekers generally – three quarters of whom are found on assessment not to have any credible claim to asylum or protection, and who often falsify their countries of origin.
The writer also speaks of asylum-seekers coming from Syria and other war-zones. Two points. Firstly, those genuinely coming from war zones generally get asylum or protection once their claims are verified. Secondly, only a small percentage of Ireland’s asylum-seeking population comes from war zones. The vast majority comes from places like Georgia and South Africa which are safe countries, or from Nigeria where the UN considers internal migration perfectly feasible for those claiming to be fleeing local sectarian strife.
have your say