The Church of Ireland Bishop of Cork, Cloyne and Ross, the Right Reverend Dr Paul Colton, said it was important that one group not be played off against another.
“People will say ‘We have to help our own first’, of course we do have to help our own, but that’s not instead of helping other people, it’s as well as, so those simple words are important, ‘as well as’,” he said.
Bishop Colton said it is important Ireland helped those coming here in need, but added that a better system was needed to give more clarity to people seeking refuge here.
“To me it’s very important, but it’s not unfettered either, we need a better system and we need a good system, and people need to get answers quickly, so there does need to be filtering to see who really does need help,” he said.
“To me the problems that are innate in our society, they’re there anyway to be solved, and they are challenges to be solved.” He said Ireland’s population growth was not caused only by inward migration, and shortages of housing, doctors and teachers were problems on which society needed to work regardless of refugees arriving into the country.
The bishop added that his diocese’s refurbishment of homes at Kingston College in Mitchelstown in 2022 for 14 families from Ukraine was part of centuries of charitable service to help those who need housing or assistance.
“This small diocese has had two housing charities and it has had a number of charities over the years to help people with economic hardship and so on, going right back, I mean the oldest one goes back to 1682, so this wasn’t a bolt out of the blue to help Ukrainian strangers,” he said.
The bishop added that while some had questioned why the houses had not been renovated and given to Irish people, the truth was the diocese had tried unsuccessfully to do just that and had only been able to secure funding to give the homes to Ukrainian refugees.
Bishop Colton has in recent months been celebrating 25 years since taking up his role as the bishop of Cork, Cloyne and Ross, as well as his 40 years in ministry on both sides of the border.
Speaking in a video interview which appears on the Church of Ireland website and social media sites, Bishop Colton talks through his tree-planting pastoral visits to schools around the diocese and the changes brought by technology and social media.
“All of my highlights are to do with people and being with them,” Bishop Colton said.
He was elected as Bishop of Cork, Cloyne and Ross in January 1999, succeeding Bishop Roy Warke, and was consecrated in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, in March of that year.