I just met a campaigner for the #DublinBayNorth candidate Kevin Coyle (of "National Alliance", whatever that is).
I asked the lady what Kevin's main issue is. "Uncontrolled immigration" she tells me.
What type of immigration is uncontrolled, and what's uncontrolled about it? I asked. She told me that "they" are all coming in with no documentation and the Gardaí aren't stopping them. She told me they're coming in from Belfast.
"And then what do they do?" I asked. "They apply for asylum," was the response.
I told her sure isn't that OK? We have an obligation to consider asylum applications.
"But they're not all fleeing war zones," she assures me (reaching into her pocket, I'm sure, for the facts and figures to support this assertion, but got distracted to try to hand a leaflet out to another passer-by).
"Isn't that for the asylum process to determine? If they are fleeing danger, they need our protection. If not, they'll be removed, surely. That's the current process. What's uncontrolled about that?"
"The office is only open 4 hours/day!"
"But that's a problem of resourcing. I still don't see how this suggests immigration isn't controlled."
At this point she stopped talking to me. I'm happy to think that I served to deny her the opportunity to give his hate-filled flyer to perhaps 4 or 5 other passers by.