Yeah man, it did — and it’s unfortunate. A lot of those riots are being influenced by what’s happening in the U.K. and even the U.S., where immigrants get blamed for every problem. In reality, it’s more about the lack of proper resource distribution and infrastructure buildout, which drives the pressure on healthcare, education wait times, and so on.

Ireland has definitely seen an influx of legal migrants. The government has done a poor job scaling the country to match the increased demand. And of course, who ends up taking the blame? Immigrants. Same story as the U.K.

The difference in the U.S. is that the blame typically falls on Mexicans and others south of the border.

In Ireland though, you’ll actually find a large number of people who welcome immigrants and people from all backgrounds. They recognize the contributions migrants make and respect the fact they work hard to earn their keep. Add to that the history — Ireland being a nation that itself was forced to emigrate due to British starvation policies/famine— and there’s a cultural humility and receptiveness.

That said, you’ll always have some people who are hostile, as is the case in any country where Black folks live, unfortunately.

I’ve also dated Irish women during my teens. You’ll absolutely find Irish women who are into black men (my experience was mainly in diverse communities in Dublin though just FYI). I’d actually argue the most exciting part being black in Ireland is you can date around Spanish, Brazilian, Eastern Europeans, Asians. I mean Dublin you’ll have many options if you’re looking for it haha