Mayo politicians struggling to see the bigger picture in election year

The cross-party decision by elected members of Mayo County Council to halt cooperation in respect of refugees and asylum seekers deserves to be described as ill-conceived and deeply negative.

And to do so, when they knew in their hearts it would have no teeth whatsoever, further undermined the reasoning behind it.

It also displayed a level of weakness because it followed a period in which some councillors were under pressure in their own communities in respect of controversial proposals which, to a great degree, had been hijacked by a wave of false and irrational claims.

So a factor, for some councillors, was a fear of losing their seats, which may inevitably happen in any case.

Another factor was their frustration at an inability to get things done and being consistently by-passed in the making of key decisions, the reality dawning that their powers have been completely eroded.

However, the most effective response by those elected to lead rather than follow would have been taking steps to open up the lines of communications between them and the Department of Integration rather than closing them off.

Nothing constructive can be achieved by a policy of non-engagement, a charge that could also be levelled at the door of the department in many respects.

But the bottom line is that the welfare of people crying out for help is at stake here and nothing is more important than that.

Regrettably, the public perception in respect of the immigration matter, as far as Mayo is concerned, has now changed due to an absence of true leadership by those who should know better.

So it needs to be called out as not being reflective of the vast majority of citizens throughout the country whose own family members, past and present, have been warmly welcomed in foreign lands.

In fact, this observer would go as far as to say the decision taken by the council on January 15, 2024, is not reflective of a sizeable number of councillors themselves who did not take a stand during the debate - but hopefully will do so in the coming weeks when the dust settles.

One, in fact, already has, Castlebar Fine Gael Councillor Ger Deere distancing himself from the stance taken by his colleagues.

Councillor Deere said he was disappointed in the motion, describing it as 'opportunistic and populist'. In hindsight he felt he should have voted against it. He is not alone in that regard, as time will tell.

Finally, this analysis ends with a statement by Minister for Social Protection, Heather Humphreys, which is pertinent to the ongoing immigration debate.

She has pointed out the social insurance contributions from foreign nationals, that is, the PRSI contributions, amount to €3 billion per annum.

Over the past ten years, it has amounted to €17 billion. That is coming from the workers in our health service, hospitality sector, food processing plants and other key sectors.

This money is helping the government pay for pensions in this country and for unemployment benefits.

Furthermore, the government has had to announce more work permits recently because of a shortage of staff in certain sectors.

The government, she added, is dealing with an emergency situation and that is likely to continue for some time.

So those elected to Mayo County Council in next June's local elections would need to see the bigger picture than the outgoing one.