Midlands-North-West European election candidate Peter Casey has said both the EU authorities and the Irish government need to “start playing hardball” with the UK over the ongoing tent fiasco.
The Irish businessman wants the European Union to demand that Westminster carry out passport control checks on all flights and ferries from Scotland, England, and Wales to any port in the Republic of Ireland.
“The British establishment has become the bad neighbour since Brexit. They are not pulling their weight on the refugee crisis and should face penalties and even economic sanctions from Brussels if they don’t immediately get their act together,” he suggested.
“Meanwhile, Ireland has rolled up its sleeves and taken in many times more Ukrainians than any other European country during 2023.
“Ireland is approximately 3.5 times smaller than the UK, yet an estimated 104,000 Ukrainian refugees are living here now and only 174,000 in Great Britain. That figure does not add up.
“I am even starting to wonder if their Rwanda strategy was simply a sabre-rattling ploy to force asylum seekers out of the United Kingdom and across the open border into Ireland.
“I fear there is going to be a tsunami of asylum seekers in the Midlands-North-West as a result of the recent Belfast High Court decision not to deport illegal immigrants to Rwanda.
“These illegal immigrants will be leaving mainland Britain in large numbers to Northern Ireland and will then head south. They will soon realise the beaches are nicer than canals, meaning the Dublin tent crisis will soon be in the Midlands-North-West.”
“I am not anti-immigration, I am pro-Ireland. Every country in this world needs to monitor the amount that they look out for themselves, and the amount that they help the rest of the world. I want to prioritise Ireland is taken care of and not getting taken advantage of, right now the UK and the rest of the EU are taking advantage of our generosity / lax immigration enforcement policies.”
Putting forward his practical solution to ease the crisis, Mr Casey said: “The best way to stop England from playing these cruel mind games, using desperate refugees as pawns, is to heavily penalise them and any transportation companies—be it airlines, ferries, or buses—for any illegal immigrants that they effectively smuggle into Europe via the backdoor of Ireland.
“Michael O’Leary would quickly sort out this problem within a week if he knew there would be a €150,000 fine per illegal immigrant who boarded one of his flights to Dublin.”
The former Dragons’ Den panellist added, “Meanwhile if the Irish government really wants to resolve this problem in the morning, they should close down the International Protection Office on Mount Street in Dublin and tell illegal immigrants to apply through the Irish embassy in London.
“We should also have Irish soldiers camping out on the border, as it would send a clear signal to bogus asylum seekers that Ireland is not going to be a soft touch.”
The Irish businessman dismissed accusations from political rivals that he is anti-immigration as “scaremongering tactics.”
He concluded, “Ireland is crying out for skilled labour. We have a shortage of skilled labour, such as medical professionals and tradespeople, for example. We need people who will put their shoulder to the wheel, not economic migrants and certainly not illegal migrants.
“If I am elected in the upcoming election, I will be proposing such common sense approaches to the European Parliament.
“As a strong independent voice, I am asking for your number one vote on Friday, June 7. I will make a difference if elected in the Midlands-North-West Constituency in June.”