Racist direct provision system a time bomb for Irish society
What we are witnessing now is what happens when governments refuse to lead
The silent protest walk in Oughterard in September against a direct provision centre at the former Connemara Gateway Hotel. Photograph: Joe O’Shaughnessy
For 20 years, successive Irish governments and the Department of Justice have pursued the racist, inhumane system of direct provision. This system has been opposed by human rights groups nationally and internationally.
It has made millions and millions for people who own hotels who are paid to house some of the most vulnerable people in our society. This system has been designed to be opaque, nebulous and hidden, and that design is also about making it hard to confront and hard to dismantle.