Sinn Féin is pledging to establish a new immigration system that would require an audit of local services such as health, housing, transport and education to be completed before any accommodation centre for asylum seekers is located in a community.
The pledge is contained in a new international protection policy, to be unveiled by party leader Mary Lou McDonald on Tuesday as she seeks a reset on a politically difficult issue that has alienated the party from some of its traditional support base.
Sinn Féin will also recommend that a “two-tier system”, in which Ukrainians enjoy better conditions than asylum seekers from other countries, should end.
Ms McDonald will launch the new policy, entitled, “A Fair System that Works” in Dublin, promising that in government Sinn Féin would require an official audit of the existing capacity of local services before an accommodation centre for asylum seekers is opened.
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Local residents would be entitled to take part in a formal process of consultations, through which they would be able to submit their concerns, a source familiar with the new policy said, although the source stressed that nobody would have a veto on the location of facilities for asylum seekers.
The rationale behind the new system is to avoid placing accommodation centres in areas where local services are already under stress.
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Sinn Féin will insist that the new policy is grounded in “equality, anti-racism and human rights”. The intention is to produce an international protection system that “works well and quickly”, in which “fairness is paramount” and in which “local communities are treated with respect”, the party will say.
The new policy comes after rioting and arson attacks against a proposed centre for asylum seekers in Coolock in Dublin and after months of other protests against some facilities around the country.
On Monday, gardaí said they had found home-made incendiary devices near the Coolock site. “Seven glass and plastic bottles of various sizes containing flammable liquid were discovered, alongside a number of empty glass bottles and rags,” the Garda said in a statement.
“Plastic bottles containing a mixture of paint and oil as well as packets of water balloons were also recovered. All of the incendiary devices and material seized has been sent for further technical examination and analysis.”
The new policy represents an attempt to seek a reset for Sinn Féin, which has suffered politically after being targeted by anti-immigration campaigners and far-right activists.
Following the recent disappointing local and European election results for Sinn Féin, Ms McDonald said the party failed to have the backs of their supporters and failed to reflect the concerns of ordinary people on immigration.
Last week, the party completed a review of the election results, which saw its vote share fall to 12 per cent, after a long period in recent years when its support was above 30 per cent.
Speaking to the media last week, Ms McDonald said community concerns must be listened to and many of those concerns related to local resources.
“I think there was a frustration among a section of our base that they weren’t being heard,” she said.
“And there was a belief that we didn’t have their backs and we didn’t reflect adequately, consistently and loudly enough the concerns that decent people have,” she added.
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