Mary Robinson: ‘Irish people think there is still room in the inn but need to be properly consulted’

Former president Mary Robinson has said Irish people believe there is still “room in the inn” for migrants but need to be properly consulted on the issue.

In an interview on Virgin Media’s The Tonight Show on Thursday, she said it was very important as a former head of State to stay out of an issue that was “politically hot”.

She was speaking after Galway County Councillor Noel Thomas, one of two Fianna Fáil councillors under investigation by their party over comments in the wake of the Ross Hill House hotel fire in Oughterard, claimed that Ireland should not continue to accept people looking for asylum “because the inn is full”.

“I believe that the Irish people do think that there is room in the inn but they need to be properly consulted,” she said in a brief remark.

“I mean that’s the issue ... if people know what the situation is, are told the real situation, they’re going to be generous and open about it because that’s what we are.”

Ms Robinson left the presidency in 1997 and is now chair of the Elders, the Nelson Mandella-founded human rights and peace organisation.

[ Kathy Sheridan: Scorching irony of a politician declaring ‘the inn is full’ at Christmas ]

Of the ongoing conflict in Gaza, she said part of the motivating force was a “bad government” attempting to escape the impacts of intelligence failures in the lead-up to the October 7th massacre of Israeli civilians by Hamas militants.

“Prime minister Netanyahu wants to stay out of jail, he wants to stay in office. He wants to just continue with this war,” she said.

“And President [Joe] Biden has not exercised the proper leverage that the United States has. In saying we want you to be restrained, he keeps saying that, to be proportionate, to obey international humanitarian law.

“He keeps saying it but he doesn’t use the levers of saying we will not provide you with the armaments, we will not provide you with the money. And so the United States in increasingly complicit which is even more dangerous for our world.”

Ms Robinson was critical of the US president earlier this week when she said his approach to the conflict was losing him respect on the global stage.

“President Biden’s support for Israel’s indiscriminate bombing of Gaza is losing him respect all over the world,” she said.

“The US is increasingly isolated, with allies like Australia, Canada, India, Japan and Poland switching their votes in the UN General Assembly to support an immediate humanitarian ceasefire.”

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