Councillor Long responds to criticism of “migrants” comments
Councillor Jim Long, in the true style of a politician, responded this Thursday to criticism of his comments about migrants in Monday’s Limerick Leader by, well, not responding to them really.
The criticism was that Councillor Long spuriously claimed that migrant workers contributed nothing to the local economy.
Rather than deal with the criticism, he went off on a rant about the Nice Treaty (which his party supported) and the proliferation of Western Union outlets.
Lets take a look at the original quote from Monday’s paper
Following the announcement last Thursday, Fine Gael Cllr Jim Long was critical of the Government in opening the floodgates to migrant workers. Cllr Long said the thousands of migrant workers in Limerick city have transferred hundreds of million of euro out of the country and believes “the vast majority of migrant workers have not contributed to the city.”
They have the opportunity to leave the country at will, but 60 per cent of the workers in Dell have mortgages and these are the people we have to protect,” said Cllr Long.
Thousands of “migrant workers” have “not contributed to the city.” This statement does not need any context.
The criticism is that if they were workers, migrant or otherwise, they have contributed to the city, and indeed the country, through their PAYE if they are working in a shop or a factory, and through commercial rates if they own their own business. After their taxes and bills are paid, what they do with the rest of their money is their own business.
From the letters to the Editor page of the Limerick Leader, County Edition under the heading “An Open Letter to Cllr Jim Long over migrant workers.” comes this, the core of why his statement was stupid.
As for your assertion that these workers have not contributed to the city; these people have paid their taxes, (and therefore helped to pay your wages) these people have paid rents, spent some of their wages in city businesses, set up businesses therefore paying city rates, and corporation tax. Saying that these people contribute nothing to the city is balderdash and disgraceful. – Charles St. George in a Letter to the Limerick Leader, 15 January 2009
And now to pick apart Councillor Long’s irrelavent response:
I gave more than a couple of lines to the reporter. As a matter of fact, I have in the past defended migrant workers in relation to exploitation. Twelve months ago I addressed the Polish Ambassador in the company of hundreds of polish people. This addres was followed up with positive advice as to their working rights and others’.
How very noble of you to defend migrant workers in relation to exploitation, however, your work in this area is not in question. What is in question is the one line you gave to the reporter that was false. “they contribute nothing to the city.” This statement cannot be construed as being taken out of context.
I am certainly not inciting racist remarks, The Government, after the Nice Treaty was passed, opened the floodgates to migrant workers, thus creating the race to the bottom, I take your comments, but the facts are that a number of Western Union offices were opened in the last two years (this meant only one thing in my opinion)
Western union is a company which facilitates the transfer of money around the world quickly and easily. But it was not the only company to open “a number of outlets around the city over the past two years,” and it isn’t incontravertible proof that foreign workers are “not contributing” to the city. Does Councillor Long think that foreign workers are putting everything they earn into and envelope at Western Union, and surviving with no food, lodging, or clothing? His statement may not be racist, but it is idiotic, populist garbage, which will only appeal to the most uninformed, uneducated individuals. A nice populist statement like that has only one purpose, get the sheeple to vote for you in the local elections in six months time. It doesn’t matter if the statement is true or not, as long as the masses believe it to be true.
The facts are that by nature migration is governed by good and plentiful times, these times are gone. I know hundreds of local people who will not be able to exist or pay their bills and mortgages and have no choice but to forgo what they aspire to in life. I make no apology for calling for these people to be protected by the state or otherwise. Unlike migrant workers, they cant pull up and go.
You are not being asked to apologise for calling on the state to protect Irish workers. You are being asked to apologise for the false claim that migrant workers contribute nothing to the city, because they do contribute.
The last paragraph of Councillor Long’s response is irrelavent, stating that over a hundred people expressed the same viewpoint as him, and that the writer of the initial letter should go through the Boston archives and compare how Irish were treated abroad to how foreign nationals were treated here..
I might also add that allowing migrants to send money home is not the sole purpose of Western Union. As an Irish national I have found it extremely handy when buying or selling second-hand items in places like ebay or adverts.ie. Councillor long should also do some comparing of his own. He should compare how foreign nationals sent money to their families back home to a time when Irish people abroad sent money back home.