State papers: Ahern opposed allowing extra refugees into Ireland on financial grounds
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Former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern opposed allowing additional refugees fleeing the war-torn former Yugoslavia into Ireland while he was Minister for Finance in the Albert Reynolds-led administration in the early 1990s.
Newly-released State papers show the Cabinet was greatly concerned about the war in Serbia, Croatia, and Bosnia-Herzigovina and feared it could spread.
They highlight how the Minister for Foreign Affairs, David Andrews, sought permission from his ministerial colleagues in September 1992 to double the number of refugees from the former Yugoslavia which Ireland proposed to take in from 200 to 400.
However, Mr Ahern resisted the measure on financial grounds.
The Minister for Finance said he was “opposed to any decision being taken at this time to admit a further block of refugees to Ireland, other than close relatives of those already here, in view of the very difficult budgetary situation currently prevailing”.
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He pointed out that the cost of hosting the 178 refugees who had already arrived was around £1m in 1992, and would be more the following year, and that “an additional influx of 200 refugees would have significant ongoing financial implications".
In any case, Mr Ahern argued that refugees from the former Yugoslavia would be reluctant to come to Ireland due to the distance involved as the original allocation to take in 200 refugees had not been fully subscribed.
However, Mr Andrews rejected his colleague’s view and stated that, by taking in an extra 200 refugees, the Government would be “seen internationally as making a significant contribution to the humanitarian efforts to relieve suffering in the former Yugoslavia".
In contrast, some 30 years later, approximately 70,000 refugees from Ukraine have been allowed move to the Republic during 2022 since the invasion of their homeland by Russia.