Good morning/afternoon Madam adjudicator. I am here to talk about the Syrian Refugee Crisis, and how Ireland can help. The Syrian refugee crisis has been ever present on the news over the past year, Ireland nestled comfortable away on the other side of Europe, has largely been a spectator during the crisis, only stepping in to help whenever the EU sets a quota. The question is, is Ireland a country normally the first to set the example, e.g same sex marriage legalised, doing enough to help, should we be on the for front of change yet again. Arguments against range from, Ireland is to small to make a sizeable difference, we should be focusing on the problems at home first and would taking in refugees dilute the Irish culture and heritage that we are world famous for.
Is Ireland to small to make a sizeable difference? Ireland and its people constantly punch above its weight int terms of making headway for radical change to occur worldwide. If Ireland was to make a difference I believe it would have to be by example. There are 4.7 million refugees are registered with the UN having fled from conflict in Syria, (amnesty.org) to put that into perspective, the Republic of Ireland’s population is 4.6 million. (Census 2012) Ireland can’t take 4.7 million people we simply wouldn’t be able to cope. But if Ireland was to take 1% of its population, 47,000 still a large number, but more a lot more manageable for the government. It would still cost around 176 million in social welfare alone with the additional costs of housing, health care and various other expenses it could cost up to one billion a year for the first couple of years. One billion is a lot for a country still trying to recover from a recession and has made a budget deficit for the last five years, granted the European Union and the United Nations would help with the costs.
Should we be focusing on are problems at home first before looking abroad. Three thousand people, eight hundred people were homeless in Ireland in January 2016. If we are already struggling to cope with the amount of people already in Ireland how can the country be expected to be able to cope with more people. 80,000 people in Ireland are still without access to clean water (WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) for Water Supply and Sanitation) Ireland’s inadequate water system has been a hot topic over the past two years and with the current government policies and end doesn’t seem to be in sight. Having clean water for everyone in Ireland is a necessity but would cost a lot of money, money that we would not have if we took in more refugees.
Would making in refugees dilute the Irish culture and heritage that we are world famous for. Millions of people flock to Ireland each year for the craic agus ceoil that Ireland is so well known for. If we were to take refugees in they would bring with them a different culture. Ireland’s history books are filled with stories of Ireland asking for help in times of oppression and famine but never getting enough or any. As a nation that has been has been through it’s share of hard times can we really watch another in a crisis as large as any and not doing anything.
There was a little boy in the news last year, lying dead on the beach after fleeing from Syria in a boat. For a month or two everyone was moved by the photo, it covered the headlines across the world, Europe finally took notice to what was happening on their doorstep. They may have taken notice but not enough action. 4.6 million refugees, 4.6 million people just like any of us here, have fled from a conflict in there homeland, are homeless in the east of Europe and are waiting and watching while EU leaders and governments squabble of who takes them. In my opinion Ireland must help out the refugees in whatever way we can, that would include taking one percent, 47,000 refugees in and setting them example to other EU countries to follow suit. For such a small country, I believe it is time for it to make a big difference.
Is Ireland to small to make a sizeable difference? Ireland and its people constantly punch above its weight int terms of making headway for radical change to occur worldwide. If Ireland was to make a difference I believe it would have to be by example. There are 4.7 million refugees are registered with the UN having fled from conflict in Syria, (amnesty.org) to put that into perspective, the Republic of Ireland’s population is 4.6 million. (Census 2012) Ireland can’t take 4.7 million people we simply wouldn’t be able to cope. But if Ireland was to take 1% of its population, 47,000 still a large number, but more a lot more manageable for the government. It would still cost around 176 million in social welfare alone with the additional costs of housing, health care and various other expenses it could cost up to one billion a year for the first couple of years. One billion is a lot for a country still trying to recover from a recession and has made a budget deficit for the last five years, granted the European Union and the United Nations would help with the costs.
Should we be focusing on are problems at home first before looking abroad. Three thousand people, eight hundred people were homeless in Ireland in January 2016. If we are already struggling to cope with the amount of people already in Ireland how can the country be expected to be able to cope with more people. 80,000 people in Ireland are still without access to clean water (WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) for Water Supply and Sanitation) Ireland’s inadequate water system has been a hot topic over the past two years and with the current government policies and end doesn’t seem to be in sight. Having clean water for everyone in Ireland is a necessity but would cost a lot of money, money that we would not have if we took in more refugees.
Would making in refugees dilute the Irish culture and heritage that we are world famous for. Millions of people flock to Ireland each year for the craic agus ceoil that Ireland is so well known for. If we were to take refugees in they would bring with them a different culture. Ireland’s history books are filled with stories of Ireland asking for help in times of oppression and famine but never getting enough or any. As a nation that has been has been through it’s share of hard times can we really watch another in a crisis as large as any and not doing anything.
There was a little boy in the news last year, lying dead on the beach after fleeing from Syria in a boat. For a month or two everyone was moved by the photo, it covered the headlines across the world, Europe finally took notice to what was happening on their doorstep. They may have taken notice but not enough action. 4.6 million refugees, 4.6 million people just like any of us here, have fled from a conflict in there homeland, are homeless in the east of Europe and are waiting and watching while EU leaders and governments squabble of who takes them. In my opinion Ireland must help out the refugees in whatever way we can, that would include taking one percent, 47,000 refugees in and setting them example to other EU countries to follow suit. For such a small country, I believe it is time for it to make a big difference.