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Assignment: Is Ireland’s reputation for tolerance under threat?

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A view of Fermoy, County Cork, Ireland.

08/02/2024 GMT

Is Ireland’s reputation for tolerance under threat?

BBC World Service - Assignment, Is Ireland’s reputation for tolerance under threat?

Tensions are rising in Ireland over the increasing number of refugees

Tensions are rising in Ireland over refugees as the government says the country is struggling to accommodate them.

Ireland is known as the land of a hundred thousand welcomes. But the government says the country has run out of accommodation to house all new eligible refugee arrivals. Some properties earmarked to house asylum seekers have been fire-bombed and others are subject to protests. Hundreds of people seeking asylum have been forced to sleep in tents in Dublin and elsewhere. Ireland has taken in around 100 000 people from Ukraine and the number of people seeking international protection from other countries has increased four fold since pre-covid times. The government has slashed benefits for new arrivals from Ukraine and limited to three months the time it will guarantee to house them. As the country leads up to local, national and European elections, migration is rising up the political agenda. Is Ireland’s reputation for tolerance under threat? For Assignment, Katie Flannery reports from Dublin and County Cork.

Producer: Bob Howard  
Editor: Penny Murphy
Studio Manager: Sarah Hockley
Production Coordinator: Gemma Ashman

(Image: A view of Fermoy, County Cork, Ireland. Credit: Designpics/Getty)

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Is Ireland’s reputation for tolerance under threat?

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