Fr Paddy Byrne
Photo: Agnes Sasiada Laois-based priest Fr Paddy Byrne has highlighted what he has described as the inadequacy of the State’s accommodation for asylum seekers, claiming that the coronavirus pandemic has shown the “cracks in society where the vulnerable are”.
Referring to the controversial Direct Provision system, Fr Byrne said that: “One thing I’ve discovered…is that Covid-19 erupts where places are vulnerable, and where else but in Direct Provision centres, and in meat factories where often – as we know – the workforce are very, very vulnerable and their living and home accommodation inadequate, in terms of social distancing.”
Interests
Underlining the Church’s understanding of the innate dignity of all people, Fr Byrne said that there is a need to temper economic interests.
“I think the economy is important – and everybody is paying a cost because of this global pandemic – but people also are important, and I think the dignity of the human person is key to a growing Ireland that’s full of goodness.
“For the vast majority of these people they’re literally locked into a system that is totally inadequate. Locked into an environment that’s tight, where conditions are inhumane, and I hope one of the good things that may come from this is that, while Covid-19 is deadly, it also exhibits itself where the vulnerable are.
“If any good comes from this, it should act as a catalyst for this new Government to be absolutely determined in eliminating Direct Provision from Irish society as we have it now,” he said.