Ms Niamh McDonald:

Communities in general are not being treated as stakeholders or with respect with regard to what is happening. The Ukraine war is over two years old, which is what the Chair just mentioned. There is not a whole-of-government approach happening towards this. We were in a crisis during Covid and we saw a whole-of-government approach. Whether we liked it or not, we were informed every day. I am not saying that we should have a press conference every day but the Government needs to be seen to have information and that people are informed of what is happening and why it is happening. From our engagement on the ground with communities, when you engage communities, see them as stakeholders and speak to what their questions and worries are, normally that kind of dissipates but when that vacuum is not filled, it is filled by hatred and extremism.

As I said before, we are seeing a narrative coming, especially from the Government since January 2024, about getting tough. It was even said on the radio this morning that too many are coming in. This does not help what we are trying to achieve on the ground. We also see a distinct lack of accommodation centres being provided and that is because there has been a weaponisation of people coming into the country seeking asylum by hate and extremism. Now there is appeasement by the Government of the far right, which is emboldening them across the country. While it may be young men at first, this will extend out to families. This is ethnonationalism. Let us call it what it is. If you are not white, Catholic and settled, you are not allowed to live in this country. This is the first crack that is within it.

At the Hope and Courage Collective, we are doing extensive research on how to talk to people about this. We use a race and class-inclusive narrative that includes everyone in our community. How do we speak to the real issues that are happening to people on the ground? The far right is distracting us right now and immigration is coming up in the polls when it should be housing, healthcare and the cost of living. We have seen this happening across Europe whether it is in Poland, Hungary or Italy. It is a complete distraction and nobody wins except hate and extremism, so we need to bring it back.

Deputy Ó Ríordáin was asking about what political parties need to do. They need to get out and campaign on housing. They need to campaign on the cost of living and speak to people on the ground about what is happening. I am not saying we do not talk about immigration but we tell our story of it and we do not let the far right, hate and extremism tell their story. We need to pull it back to what people are really facing because if we do not, nobody is going to win - none of the political parties, our democratic system and definitely not communities on the ground.