Sinn Féin has unveiled a new immigration strategy in the wake of an unsatisfactory local election campaign, with two main elements at its core. Initially, it’s evident that the party strives to recapture the loyalty of struggling, working-class communities who feel alienated by Sinn Féin’s approach towards immigration issues.
Party leader, Mary Lou McDonald, strongly conveyed her belief that affluent communities ought to bear the brunt of housing International Protection Applicants, rather than poverty-stricken areas. Sinn Féin is advocating for communities to undergo an evaluation before housing anyone, relying on specific criteria to decide if the area is suitable.
This leads to the second point: the party now essentially has a green light for Sinn Féin’s elected officials to oppose plans for asylum seeker accommodation on the basis of the recommended audit not being implemented.
The party proposes this initial assessment should consider various factors such as the availability of amenities such as schools and GPs, distance to transport, and existing socioeconomic disadvantages in the area. These aspects, they claim, will dictate the selection of suitable accommodation sites. Sinn Féin also mentioned the use of Census data, CSO data, and the Pobal HP Deprivation Index as part of their plan.
When McDonald was questioned to name three potential locations for accommodation centres that meet all the aforementioned criteria, she avoided providing a direct answer, stating the previous approach of casually specifying locations was part of the problem.
This question is reasonable though; considering these factors alongside public input, it seems unlikely that any new centres would be seen as satisfactory. Despite this, it seems Sinn Féin’s main focus is on a particular issue; they acknowledge that feelings of dissatisfaction and concern have arisen in communities nationwide, owing to the perception of resource overstretch. Sinn Féin aims to reconnect with this disgruntlement and align their stance more strongly with the sentiments of these voters.
The feasibility of conducting a comprehensive community review does not appear to be of major concern to the heads of Sinn Féin, as the party progresses back to its primary role as the leader of the Opposition, instead of pretending to be the ruling government.
Prior to the recent vote, Sinn Féin was criticised for its lack of a well-defined immigration agenda. However, on Tuesday the party asserted that it does have a strategy in place – one that stands apart from that of the Government. Except for the concept of a detailed community pre-evaluation, Sinn Féin’s idea isn’t drastically dissimilar to what the Coalition is currently implementing.
For instance, Sinn Féin has expressed the desire to triple the manpower of the International Protection Offices from 400 to 1,200. At the moment, approximately 480 employees operate in the IPO, and the Government has already committed to augment the staff with an additional 400 individuals within the next year. Furthermore, Sinn Féin has called for “enhanced attention” to deportation orders. To facilitate this, the Government has assigned 100 police officers from administrative roles to back up measures related to immigration enforcement, covering deportations.
Targeting working-class voters and communities under stress is demonstrably the central objective of Sinn Féin’s fresh strategy. In conveying their proposal, Sinn Féin has suggested to middle-class communities that they may need to increase their efforts. Mary Lou McDonald, a representative of Sinn Féin, justified this as a “fair request”. However, the question that remains is how will the electorate react to Sinn Féin’s appeal?