Ireland at a Crossroads: Balancing Compassion with Responsibility
Why the left and the right need to understand each other and meet in the middle
Introduction: Two Extremes in Our Society
My friends,
Today in our city centres, we see protests, and in them, two extremes. On the right, some voices filled with real hatred — voices we must reject. But for most, what we see is fear: fear for their children's future, fear for a culture that seems to slip further away each year. On the left, we see others who, often loudly and with real hostility, accuse all who raise concerns of racism. They must also recognize: most Irish people do not hate immigrants. We understand suffering. We know it. We were immigrants once too. But the shouting and the refusal to listen on both sides only deepens the divide, when what we truly need is an honest, respectful conversation.
The Need for a Balanced Immigration Approach
Most Irish people simply believe something obvious, but rarely said aloud: Immigration must be small-scale, well-managed, and sustainable. It must be grounded in realism, not wishful thinking.
The truth is: our country is fragile. Our birth rate has fallen to 1.54 — far below the replacement rate of 2.1. 34,700 Irish citizens emigrated last year, seeking opportunities abroad. Meanwhile, the average new home in Ireland now costs €410,000 — and in Dublin, €500,000. Our young people, burdened by debt and soaring costs, cannot afford to settle down, to build families, to stay. Is it fair to ask them to sacrifice even more?
The Strain on Public Resources and Housing
And what of the money being spent? In 2024 alone, the State will spend nearly €1.005 billion to house International Protection applicants — nearly €2.63 million per day. This marks a 54% increase from €651.75 million in 2023. Meanwhile, our own housing lists grow longer. Our own couples are left waiting, unable to afford housing and the cost of parenthood. How long before they give up entirely? This money could be being spent on incentives and housing plans for young couples to produce the next generation of Ireland.
But we must be honest: immigration is only one piece of the puzzle. The deeper sickness runs through our housing market itself.
The Crisis in Housing: A System Driven by Greed
Foreign investors now buy up Irish land and homes, treating them as assets for profit, not places to live. Irish landlord cartels collude to push rents higher and higher, decoupling prices from quality or community need. Property ownership is no longer tied to the dignity of place; it is tied only to the question: "How much can we squeeze from those who have no other choice?"
Is housing not a basic human right? Should it not be tied to location and quality, not to raw greed?
A Call for Reform: Tackling Housing and Immigration
We must change course. We must impose heavy taxes on foreign-owned residential land. We must strictly limit how many properties any one person or corporation can own. We must create policies that root the housing market back into the soil of real life, real families, real futures.
And we must be realistic about immigration. Ireland, a small nation still healing from the wounds of colonization, cannot be the catch-all solution for global crises. We can help — and we must — but we must help wisely. We should work internationally to stabilize regions, so refugees can someday return to safe homelands. We should prioritize humanitarian aid close to crisis zones, where it can do the most good for the greatest number.
Learning from Others: Embracing Compassion and Cultural Identity
We must also take inspiration from other nations, like Poland, who have defended their borders and protected their cultural identity without abandoning their compassion. Yet we must also recognize the broader forces at play. The centralized policies of the European Union, spearheaded by figures like Ursula von der Leyen, increasingly seek to strip member states of sovereignty over their borders, economies, and cultural life. Centralized banking institutions and supranational bureaucracies dictate economic and migration policies that serve markets, not peoples. Should Ireland’s future be decided in distant boardrooms and Brussels corridors? Or should it be decided here, by the Irish people, for the Irish people?
Is it hatred to love your own people? Is it bigotry to want your grandchildren to grow up speaking your language, singing your songs, walking your hills?
If we do not act now, who will protect the Ireland that we love?
A Vision for a Better Ireland: A Path Toward Stability and Prosperity
I believe in a different path. A path where we:
Build tens of thousands of public homes.
Invest in high-speed rail and city infrastructure.
Offer grants to young Irish couples to build families, and combat our declining birth rate.
Welcome immigrants in small numbers, carefully vetted, with the supports needed to integrate — without drowning our already overwhelmed systems.
Restore our language, our culture, our civic pride. I have a full plan to help achieve this: to re-invent traditional Irishness and fuse it with modern music, media, and animation. Not only would this capture the hearts of our youth, but it would also allow the whole world to see the beauty of authentic Ireland — a living, breathing culture proud of its past and excited for its future. A country that refused to let go of its roots, only growing stronger, despite all that has happened to it.
The Legacy of Éamon de Valera: A New Ireland for the People
Éamon de Valera once said:
"The Ireland which we dreamed of would be the home of a people who valued material wealth only as a basis for right living; who, satisfied with frugal comfort, devoted their leisure to the things of the spirit."
Are we building that Ireland today? Or are we selling it, piece by piece, to the highest bidder — and inviting its slow erasure by well-meaning, but reckless policies?
The Path Forward: In Love, Not Fear
It is time for us to speak clearly, and act boldly. Not in hatred. Not in fear. But in love — love for Ireland, for its children, for its future.
The door of Ireland must always be open — but it must be a strong door, opened by choice, not broken down by neglect.
We owe it to those who came before us. And we owe it to those who are yet to come.