Midlands-North-West European Election candidate Peter Casey has said “The madness must stop with illegal immigrants causing chaos in Dublin” and is now calling for the International Protection Office on Mount Street to be temporarily closed down and a six-month moratorium on accepting asylum seekers.

“The current situation is completely out of control,” Peter Casey observed.

He said, “I was shocked, appalled, and deeply saddened when I visited both the International Protection Office – which is now an eyesore with it being fenced-off – and witnessed first-hand at the weekend the appalling sight of hundreds of tents along the Grand Canal which has turned a national treasure into a national disgrace.”

He continued, “The recent High Court decision means that Northern Ireland and, of course, the Midlands North West will be overrun by illegal migrants hoping to avoid being deported to Rwanda.

“If we place a moratorium on all applications, there will be no need to have the International Protection Office. The crisis will then become the English government’s problem as asylum seekers will start returning to London.”

He said that the European Union should be opening immigrant offices across all the troubled hotspots where the majority of asylum seekers are coming from, such as Nigeria, Georgia, Somalia, Zimbabwe, Afghanistan, and North Africa.

“These offices would allow refugees to apply for asylum in Europe. The authorities could then consider each case on an individual basis and vet them in a swift manner to decide who merits entry to the EU. They would then be fairly allocated on a lottery basis to the different EU countries. The reality is most migrants want to go to Ireland because, along with Malta, we are now the only two English-speaking countries in the EU.

“I am surprised that nobody in the Irish government, including all the Irish MEPS, has not called for such a plan to be implemented.”

The former Dragon Dens’ star also said, “Ireland has given refuge to over 100K Ukrainian refugees, five times more than the UK and we simply cannot take in any more Ukrainian refugees or asylum seekers, until we have the infrastructure to accommodate them. At the moment, people cannot get the healthcare support they need and deserve. There is a housing crisis and a healthcare crisis.

“The lack of action from major political parties on the migration issue is bizarre. If elected, I promise to advocate vigorously for policies that not only address immediate concerns but also strengthen the integrity of our immigration system.”

The Irish businessman also made a point of adding that “Ireland is crying out for skilled labour”. He concluded, “We have a shortage of skilled labour such as nurses and doctors, for example. The more medical professionals we can attract, the more it would help ease the crisis in our health system. We need more tradesmen. Our children are leaving because they do not see a future in Ireland. 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.

“The Midlands North West constituency needs a true independent voice in Brussels to ensure Ireland doesn’t remain a soft touch in this ongoing refugees’ crisis, which is an all-Ireland problem. That is why I am asking for your number one vote on Friday, June 7.”

As one of nine children, I grew up in Derry during the height of the Troubles and on a scholarship studied business and politics at Aston University in Birmingham, graduating with honours in 1979. I was recognised as one of Aston University’s 50 Most Influential Alumni. Later, I was honoured as a leading Irish American businessman by Irish American Magazine.

I have lived and worked on three Continents, I am very proud to be Irish. I have only ever had one passport, and have never sworn allegiance to any other country.

After working briefly in England, I emigrated to Australia to work in senior roles at Rank Xerox and after three years, I launched my first successful business, Trinity Group, which I built into one of the leading search and IT contracting firms in New South Wales.

After 15 years in Australia, I sold the business and moved back to Ireland. I invested all my money in a new project called Skydome where I managed to lose all my money, as a result of a lawsuit, which I eventually won. But by the time the judgement came, the company had stopped trading. I then started Claddagh Resources, an Executive search firm.

I have been married to Helen for over 30 years and we have five children.

I attended the White House Good Friday Peace Talks in the late 1990s. I decided to use my profile as one of the judges of RTÉ’s Dragons’ Den show to launch my political career and subsequently came second in the 2018 presidential election.

Now, as a candidate for Midlands-North-West in the European Elections on 7 June, I want to use my business experience and contacts to bring companies and jobs to the Midlands North West.

I have already put my money where my mouth is, so to speak when it comes to using my contacts to help promote Ireland to the global business community.

I arranged for the Chairman of Tata Sons, who own Jaguar Land Rover, Tata Steel, Air India, Tetley Tea and TCS, and have an estimated worth of €350BN with a turnover of over €150B in 2023, to come to Ireland and personally meet with the former Taoiseach. TCS, who own Pramerica, now have operations in Letterkenny, employing over 1500 people. Tata Sons employs over 1 million people globally and is the largest employer in the private sector in the UK. I also arranged for him, to meet with the Presidents of the Universities and Institutes of Technology at the Shelbourne Hotel to discuss bilateral opportunities. I have written two best-selling books on the Tata Group.

I will use my influence with major companies in India, the US and Australia to encourage them to open up their European hubs in Midlands North West.

Another key issue I feel urgently needs tackling is the Mica Crisis. I am also totally opposed to the Green Party. I believe a carbon tax is not the answer to global warming. It is a tax on rural Ireland, a tax on people who can least afford it.

Other areas where I have taken strong positions are the cost of living and housing crisis, and, of course, the illegal migrants crisis. Illegal migrants take houses and health care services that are needed by our citizens. I appreciate the importance of international responsibilities. We play our part but we should always put the Irish above people who are illegally here.

I believe, having being an immigrant myself, puts me in a unique position to speak with authority on the current illegal immigrant crisis in Ireland and put forward practical solutions at a European level to help resolve it.

One solution is to fine the airlines and ferries for effectively trafficking illegal immigrants into Ireland. Give the airlines a €500,000 fine per illegal person they transport and they will stop doing it overnight!

I believe that if the EU was serious about resolving the migrant crisis, they should open immigrant offices as a “matter of urgency” across all the troubled hotspots where the majority of asylum seekers are coming from, and even in London.

These offices would allow refugees to apply for asylum in Europe. The authorities could then consider each case on an individual basis and swiftly vet them to decide who merits entry to the EU.

With the technology we have today, it should take hours not months and years to assess the validity of an asylum seeker’s claim. They could then allocate valid asylum seekers to various EU countries based on a fair lottery system that would distribute them equally across the European Union.

This solution would mean that genuine asylum seekers could be sent to Poland, Spain, France, the Baltic States or Ireland where they will be met with a céad míle fáilte once the Irish public can see there is an unbiased and fair pan-European system in place.

The EU is letting Ireland suffer, to punish the UK for leaving the EU.

It is unfair to have put such pressure on Ireland, as is being witnessed by the tent crisis in Dublin.

I am surprised that nobody in the Irish government, including all the Irish MEPS, has called for such a plan to be implemented.

As a true independent voice, I am asking for your number one vote on June

Midlands North West “will become a magnet for asylum seekers” as result of the shock ruling by The High Court in Belfast that now makes it illegal for the UK Home Office to deport any illegal immigrants based in Northern Ireland to Rwanda, according to European Election candidate Peter Casey.

“The Northern Ireland High Court ruling means that both the North and border counties will become a magnet for illegal immigrants from the mainland UK who fear being deported to Rwanda,” said Peter Casey who is running in the Midlands-North-West constituency.

“There is a misconception that Dublin has the most asylum seekers in the country – it is actually Donegal that has the highest percentage of migrants per head of population. One in every 100 people in Donegal is an asylum seeker – and that’s just the official figure!

“In truth, it is probably much higher now with illegal immigrants flocking across the border because of the UK’s no nonsense policy to deport them to Rwanda – and that will increase tenfold with this alarming High Court ruling.”

The former Dragons’ Den star said he was concerned that the Irish government has now admitted that – due to extreme pressures on the asylum systems – they cannot screen all illegal immigrants, which is required by law to be carried out within 30 days of an illegal immigrant’s entry into the state.

“This is a worrying concern. For example, the Irish government has just come out and said that any illegal immigrants with mental disorders or so-called victims of human trafficking are not being screened,” he said.

“The Irish government has now admitted that this process for them was stopped in March. People are being stopped for car tax, for God’s sake, while these asylum seekers go unvetted! Where are the priorities?”

The successful businessman, who came second in the last presidential election, also believes that voters will not be “fooled” by Sinn Féin’s new policies on illegal immigrants, which he has described as “disingenuous”.

He said, “Sinn Féin’s have undergone a disingenuous Pauline Conversation on the road to – not Damascus – but rather power in the Dáil. They are now calling for border controls, but in 2016 Sinn Féin’s manifesto promised to regularise all the undocumented people living in Ireland.

“Then, a year later at Sinn Féin’s Ard Fheis there was a motion forwarded to oppose any EU deal that would ‘see the mass deportation of asylum-seekers’ and it called to ‘open new legal channels to refugees to resettled safely in Ireland’.

“But since they have read the room Sinn Féin’s are now playing a different tune. Mary Lou and Co are playing us for fools. This type of a u turn demonstrates that the public cannot trust any of the establishment parties – including Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, Greens and even Sinn Féin’s – on migration.

“The Midlands North West constituency needs a true independent voice in Brussels to ensure we don’t remain a soft touch in this ongoing refugees crisis. That is why I am asking for your number one vote on Friday, June 7.”

Midlands North West “will become a magnet for asylum seekers” as result of the shock ruling by The High Court in Belfast that now makes it illegal for the UK Home Office to deport any illegal immigrants based in Northern Ireland to Rwanda, according to European Election candidate Peter Casey.

“The Northern Ireland High Court ruling means that both the North and border counties will become a magnet for illegal immigrants from the mainland UK who fear being deported to Rwanda,” said Peter Casey who is running in the Midlands-North-West constituency.

“There is a misconception that Dublin has the most asylum seekers in the country – it is actually Donegal that has the highest percentage of migrants per head of population. One in every 100 people in Donegal is an asylum seeker – and that’s just the official figure!

“In truth, it is probably much higher now with illegal immigrants flocking across the border because of the UK’s no nonsense policy to deport them to Rwanda – and that will increase tenfold with this alarming High Court ruling.”

The former Dragons’ Den star said he was concerned that the Irish government has now admitted that – due to extreme pressures on the asylum systems – they cannot screen all illegal immigrants, which is required by law to be carried out within 30 days of an illegal immigrant’s entry into the state.

“This is a worrying concern. For example, the Irish government has just come out and said that any illegal immigrants with mental disorders or so-called victims of human trafficking are not being screened,” he said.

“The Irish government has now admitted that this process for them was stopped in March. People are being stopped for car tax, for God’s sake, while these asylum seekers go unvetted! Where are the priorities?”

The successful businessman, who came second in the last presidential election, also believes that voters will not be “fooled” by Sinn Féin’s new policies on illegal immigrants, which he has described as “disingenuous”.

He said, “Sinn Féin’s have undergone a disingenuous Pauline Conversation on the road to – not Damascus – but rather power in the Dáil. They are now calling for border controls, but in 2016 Sinn Féin’s manifesto promised to regularise all the undocumented people living in Ireland.

“Then, a year later at Sinn Féin’s Ard Fheis there was a motion forwarded to oppose any EU deal that would ‘see the mass deportation of asylum-seekers’ and it called to ‘open new legal channels to refugees to resettled safely in Ireland’.

“But since they have read the room Sinn Féin’s are now playing a different tune. Mary Lou and Co are playing us for fools. This type of a u turn demonstrates that the public cannot trust any of the establishment parties – including Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, Greens and even Sinn Féin’s – on migration.

“The Midlands North West constituency needs a true independent voice in Brussels to ensure we don’t remain a soft touch in this ongoing refugees crisis. That is why I am asking for your number one vote on Friday, June 7.”

European Election candidate Peter Cassey, who has written two best selling books on Tata, now the largest employer in Donegal has vowed, “I will use my personal influence with major companies in India, US and Australia to encourage them to open up their European hubs in rural Ireland if elected as an MEP in the upcoming election.”

In 2014, the independent candidate for Midlands-North West Constituency used his connections and influence to get Natarajan Chandrasekaran (Chandra), the Chairman of India’s largest company, and many of the Tata leadership team, to come to Ireland, and meet with the Taoiseach, Ministers for Employment and Jobs. He also arranged for Chandra to meet with the Presidents of the Universities and Institutes of Technology at the Shelbourne Hotel to discuss bilateral opportunities. Tata is now the largest employer in Donegal.

“I have a track record here and have already put my money where my mouth is, so to speak, when it comes to helping to create jobs in Ireland,” said the successful businessman. “Tata employs over 1M people globally, and is the largest employer in the private sector in the UK.”

Explaining how he facilitated the deal with Tata – who owns Jaguar Land Rover and Tetley Tea company and have an estimated worth of €350bn with a turnover of over €150B in 2023 – Mr Casey revealed:

“Tata Sons is the parent company and owns a controlling interest in all the Tata publicly traded and privately held companies and in turn is owned and controlled by the two major Tata Philanthropic Trusts, The Ratan Tata Trust and the Dorab Tata Trust – making is one of the largest philanthropic organisations in the world.

“Tata was considering setting up a centre of excellence in Ireland to expand their Massive Open Online Learning (MOOCS) operation. Unfortunately, EU regulations did not permit this as at the time as TCS did not employ enough EU nationals to justify the granting of visas to the Indians that would have to been transferred to support the setting up of the centre!”

“These are people would have been productive the day after they got off the plane helping set up a world class centre of excellence in MOOCS, the future of education in Ireland, and EU regulations prohibited it!

“Fortunately, TCS was able to acquire Pramerica in Letterkenny and now employ 1500 staff, making it one of the largest employers in Donegal!”

In the summer of 2023 the head of the iconic Tata group even paid a surprise visit to Ireland and met with Mr Casey, who came second in the last presidential election.

“In July 2023, I was in Letterkenny hospital and I got a call from Chandra asking, ‘Hello Peter, how are you and where are you?’

“I explained that I was about to be released from the hospital after my third day of intravenous antibiotics for treatment for cellulitis!

“Chandra had decided to take me up on my invitation to explore Donegal and came on an unannounced hiking holiday with his son and wife, who are both avid hikers.

“The next couple of days I showed Chandra around Donegal. He and his family came for dinner at Greencastle and, needless to say, it somewhat surprised and delighted the local management in Letterkenny when we popped in for a cup of tea the next day.

“I have written two best-selling books on Tata, with a third being published in October. I am very proud of my association with Tata and when elected as MEP for Midlands North West, will work hard to help Tata and other multinational companies to use Ireland to expand their footprint into Europe.”

The multinationals pay over 80% of Corporation tax in Ireland and this vital source of revenue must be supported and protected.

The European Union should look at opening immigrant offices as a “matter of urgency” across all the troubled hotspots where the majority of asylum seekers are coming from, such as Nigeria, Georgia, Somalia, Zimbabwe, Afghanistan, North Africa – and even in London, according to European Election candidate Peter Casey.  

The former Dragons’ Den star said, “If the EU is serious about resolving the migrants’ crisis, they need to be proactive by opening immigration offices across all the most troubled locations from where asylum seekers are flocking to Ireland – including London.

“This should be done as a matter of urgency. These offices would allow refugees to apply for asylum in Europe. The authorities could then consider each case on an individual basis and vet them in a swift manner to decide on who merits entry to the EU.

“My proposal will fast track asylum seekers and help ensure that nobody is left sleeping in a tent.”

Peter Casey, who came second in the last presidential election, is proposing that a lottery system is set up to decide on which EU country each asylum seeker is sent to.

“The reality is, many of these migrants will all want to go to Ireland because, along with Malta, we are now the only two English speaking countries in the EU,” he pointed out.

“In order to ensure not too much unfair pressure is put on Ireland – as is being witnessed by the tents crisis in Dublin – those successful asylum seekers who are approved entry should be allocated a country based on a fair lottery system that distributes them equally right across the European Union.

“This would mean that these asylum seekers could be sent to Poland, Spain, France, the Baltic States or Ireland – where they will be met with a céad míle fáilte once the Irish public can see there is an unbiased and fair pan-European system in place.

“I am surprised that nobody in the Irish government, including all the Irish MEPS, have called for such a plan to be implemented.”

The independent candidate for Midlands-North West Constituency added that his idea would help dramatically reduce the number of refugees dying at sea.

He said, “Such a system will not only ease the crisis but it will also save lives of those who are putting themselves in extreme danger by being trafficked in unsafe dinghies by unscrupulous gangs to Western Europe.

“From January to December 2023, the UNHCR [United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees]  recorded that 3,160 refugees were sadly reported as dead or missing at sea on the Mediterranean route to Europe. This is both terribly sad and shocking. My solution would help prevent such unnecessary deaths.

“The lack of action from major political parties on this pressing issue is troubling. If elected, I promise to advocate vigorously for policies that not only address immediate concerns but also strengthen the integrity of our immigration system.”

The Irish businessman also made a point of adding that “Ireland is crying out for skilled labour”.  

He concluded, “We have a shortage of skilled labour such as nurses and doctors, for example. The more medical professionals we can attract, the more it would help ease the crisis in our health system.

“We should strive to create an immigration system that benefits both newcomers and Ireland, enhancing the rich fabric of our nation.

“If elected in the upcoming election, I will be proposing such common sense approaches to the European parliament.”

European Election candidate for the Midlands North West, Peter Casey fears the asylum seekers crisis will spiral out of control if this inept Irish government does not find an immediate solution.

He said, “The tents may be temporarily gone from locations around Dublin, but make no mistake, they will pop up somewhere else. How did the government suddenly find accommodation for 150 people who they could not find accommodation for the day before?”

“With the way these illegal immigrants are flooding across the border from the UK on a daily basis, it will not be long before refugee tent communities mushroom across other parts of the country.”

“This is not just a headache for Dublin, it will become an all Ireland problem. There will also be serious health and safety concerns here,” say Peter.

The independent candidate for the Midlands North West Constituency believes that the tents fiasco could have a negative impact on our tourism and hospitality industry.

“We need a long term solution.” The former Dragons’ Den star said, “Tourists will not feel safe walking around Dublin or anywhere in Ireland. It will result in a significant drop in tourism.”

“The government is adopting an “out of sight”, “out of mind policy”, instead of tackling the problem head on.”

“The Common Travel Agreement is the most important agreement between the UK and Ireland. More important than any agreement we have with the EU. It must be protected and defended at all costs. It is an integral part of the Good Friday Peace Agreement. For it to survive, we need to have an asylum policy which is aligned with the UK. I do not think we can afford to pay the £1.5M that Britain is paying Rwanda for each person they transfer, but we should have an urgent discussion with them to see how we can work together to come up with a win win solution.”

“Over 70 percent of Irish people said in a recent poll that they support the border checks to ensure nobody is entering the country illegally, and that is only common sense.”

“Properly implemented, there will be no need to have migration patrols on the Northern / Southern border. We would all agree to have similar inspections at all our ports of entry.”

The Irish businessman is now calling on the government to immediately fast track the application process for all asylum seekers.

“It should take days to process applications not months or years. Ireland has only deported a handful of failed asylum seekers up until now.”

“We need to fast track these applicants and if they fail to meet the criteria required to stay here, they should be immediately deported. We need to send out a strong message that Ireland is not the soft touch of Europe.”

Mr. Casey, who came second in the last Presidential Election, is also calling for stricter controls at our borders.

“You cannot call yourself a Sovereign State if you are unable to properly control your borders. The unprecedented refugee crisis is a result of the British government’s decision to send refugees to Rwanda, basically copying a similarly successful system implemented in Australia, when they transferred arrivals from Indonesia to Papau New Guinea.” he said.

“Also, I think there should be significant penalties for any airline, bus, ferry and train company ferrying illegal passengers across the border into the Republic. Put the onus on the transportation companies to check documentation. They are effectively facilitating people entering the country illegally.”

“It is disappointing that the MEPs from main political parties elected to represent the concerns of the Midlands North West and other Constituencies are so silent on this number one concern, it speaks volumes about their ineptness.”

“If elected, you can be guaranteed that I, as a true independent candidate,” he concluded, “will put pressure on the Irish government and the powers that be in Brussels to ensure we never again see tents on our streets.”