ABSTRACT
In this chapter we discuss the politicisation of immigration to Ireland. It begins by describing the history of immigration in terms of socio-demographic changes, changes to legislation and changes that have occurred in the political arena. Section 5.2 describes the nature of the resulting political debate on immigration and how it compares with other countries, highlighting changes in salience and polarisation, as well as identifying the key contributors to the debate. The third part of the chapter links the first two sections and attempts to answer the question: How has immigration been de-politicised in Ireland?
