About ~12 % of the Irish population is nonnational and foreign-born, so that statistic directly contradicts your perception that Ireland is u201cUsually not a destination for refugees/migrantsu201dWhen the E.U expanded in 2022 Ireland was one of only 3 countries to have no restriction on the movement of the new member states of Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia.These new member states joined during Irelands Presidency of the E.U. the welcome ceremony was held at u00c1ras an Uachtaru00e1in the residency of The Irish PresidentFrom the outset, we welcomed people and they were given a Cead mile failte / hundred thousand welcomes by the Irish people.Those of Eastern European extraction make up a sizeable minority, The Polish population alone in Ireland as of 2022 census was 122,515. There are more polish speakers in Ireland then they are native Irish speakers it is the second most spoken language besides English.15 years after Ireland opened its borders to the EUu2019s expansion, which coincidentally happened during Ireland presidency of the Euu2022 the migrants who have arrived since describing an open and inclusive society where they continue to prosper.Itu2019s clear we hugely underestimated the number of eastern Europeans that would pour into Ireland.Poles, Latvians, and Lithuanians flowed in at an extraordinary rate, a result of our decision u2022 along with the UK and Sweden u2022 to allow unlimited access to the citizens of the 10 new EU accession states to our labor market.While the census recorded just 4,000 Polish-born people in 2022. by 2022 it ballooned to 65,000. Four years later, it topped 120,000.In the process, they transformed small parts of every town of the country into mini-Baltic enclaves. No town was left without a Polski sklep that sold pickles, Polish beer or smoked fish.But the doomsayers were wrong as well. Ireland absorbed the workers like a sponge. Fears that Polish plumbers and other low-paid workers would steal jobs and price Irish workers out of the market never really materialized.We are not like our near neighbors. Ireland managed the influx with little or no political fallout partly because of our low unemployment rates and economic boom at the time. Even when the bottom fell out of the economy, there was no real sense of alarm. Many lefts, to be sure, but many also stay on and hope for the best.It was a reminder that in opening its borders, Ireland didnu2019t just receive a temporary wave of guest-workers, it also received tens of thousands of people with hopes and dreams of carving out a successful life hereDuring the economic downturn and Financial Crisis that hit Ireland in 2022 With high unemployment and real competition for jobs, many might have predicted heightened resentment towards our eastern European neighbors. That never happened. Nor is there any indication of support for right-wing populist parties such as Ukip, which whipped up fears about immigration in the UK that certainly played a part in Brexit.There is little evidence also to suggest that migrants, from the European Union in particular, push down wages or displace the jobs of domestic workers. They in fact often fill key gaps in the jobs market, for example in the health service or the hospitality and IT sectors. This is a lesson that has been brought home forcefully in the last few months in Britain.Ireland probably took in, in per capita terms more of our European Neighbours and non-EU migrants then our Friends in the UK without any populous backlash.There was no Right-wing reaction or anti Immigrant sentiment outside the little shite Justin Barret and Gemma Ou2019Doherty and their ilk. Politics in Ireland tends to be centered and seldom extreme from either end of the political spectrum.As for Asylum seekers, the Dublin Regulation says that an Asylum seeker should seek asylum in the nearest safe country they land in. Ireland is on the periphery of Europe with limited direct transport links to countries that Refugees or Asylum seekers hail come from.The top five nations that accounted for most asylum seekers in 2022 were Syria followed by Pakistan, Albania, Zimbabwe and Nigeria. those countries donu2019t have direct routes to Ireland.Asylum seekers in Ireland are housed in Direct Provision centres and can sometimes be caught in legal limbo. Direct Provision centres do not exactly make the Asylum process in Ireland attractive. People can be stuck in the process for years . The whole refugee and asylum seeker debate can be very emotive , the Process could be speeded up so Genuine asylum seekers are not stuck in that legal limbo and often poor living conditions for years.The system is not perfect in Ireland but for the most part we have been spared any populous backlash or anti-migrant sentiment. In this era of Brexit and Trump given our history, we know what it is like be Migrants,This short documentary will give you some Idea of how non nationals Integrate in to Irish society.If you include 2022 economic metrics then Ireland is the 6th wealthiest country in the World. it has been outperforming and the fastest growing economy in Europe for a number of consecutive years now.By all measurable metrics, The Republic of Ireland is an ahead socially and economically than our near neighborsIreland is the European hub to over 1,000 leading multinational companies! Companies who require a skilled, educated and highly capable workforce to drive their success chose to locate in Ireland.Over 1,000 FDI giants in ICT, Social Media, Pharmaceuticals and Finance have made Ireland the hub of their European operations, with names such as Google, HP, Apple, IBM, Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter, Pfizer, GSK and Genzyme.Ireland has been the Fastest growing country within the Eurozone for a number of consecutive years now. it grew by almost 8% last yearIreland has been attracting Immigrants in relatively large numbers since the Celtic Tiger boom of the last u201990s. So if you are under the Impression that the country does not attract Migrants you are mistaken.If you exclude Luxembourg from the equation then Ireland is the Richest per capita in GDP terms Eurozone country. You might have an outdated view of the Irish economy and think of it in the same brackets as Albania's but with Brutal weather . and not an attractive destination for migrants.