Trump’s visit may be an opportunity – priests

Donald Trump’s visit to Ireland will be an opportunity for the Government to challenge his views on immigration, and reflect on our own failings, Irish priests have said.

Speaking in response to the announcement that the US President will be coming to the country in November, migrant’s rights activist Fr Alan Hilliard said there are many reasons why people are protesting his visit, but in relation to migration, Ireland should propose alternative solutions to those present in America and be ready to challenge Mr Trump’s answers.

One such option the Government should be promoting, Fr Hilliard said is to convince the Trump administration to sign back on to the UN Global Compact on Migration, which “is a way for countries working together better to deal with the situation of migration because it’s not going to go away”.

He said that current immigration policies in America are not working “no matter how many prisoners you have or how many walls you build”, stressing that if a policy isn’t working, we have to present the reasons why this is the case and offer different proposals.

Echoing these sentiments, Portlaoise-based priest Fr Paddy Byrne said that Trump’s presidency is controversial, but that something positive may result from it.

“Part of me feels when Pope Francis came to Ireland there was a lot of – in no way am I equating Donald Trump to Pope Francis – but you know there was a lot of mixed feelings and I think it ended to be a very positive experience,” he said.

Fr Byrne added that although Irish people should be criticising Trump’s policies on immigration, the Government should address its ongoing failings in caring for refugees, in particular asylum seekers and those in direct provision.

“Our challenge will be more authentic if we deal with in a real way to make action to end direct provision…we are still happy to enslave people into a system that they are living and that very few people to care about,” he said.