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12-07-2024 Daily Maverick

After the Bell: Ireland’s not being a good sport about its visa push

Irish eyes might be smiling, but South Africans are rightly rankled by Ireland’s new visa requirements, imposed on Monday with a tiny bone thrown our way by way of a ‘grace period’ that is probably of use to only a minuscule cohort of travellers.

Rugby Fan” said it best: “Jeez, beat them in one rugby game, and they go nuts.”

Jokes aside, it’s not about sour grapes stemming from Saturday’s Test match when the Boks beat Ireland 27-20.

Nor is it just that South Africans and Botswanans must now apply for a visa to Ireland.

It’s that it was instituted so hastily - when the roll-out was on the cards for a while - with what appears to be hardly a thought given to people who have existing, paid-for trips planned in a month’s time.

A one-month “grace period” offers some relief for a tiny category of people: Travellers who booked their trips before 10 July can still enter Ireland until 10 August (provided they have proof of their bookings and a valid passport, to state the obvious).

However, those who booked before (or after) 10 July but are only travelling to Ireland after 10 August now need a visa.

And a transit visa is mandatory if you’re just passing through Ireland on your way to another country.

An Irish visa doesn’t cost as much as Schengen visas - a single-entry, short-stay visa will cost R1,200 and multiple-entry visas are R2,000 - but that’s not the point. To lump a new, onerous requirement on travellers - who have already spent a lot on their tickets and probably accommodation - without being able to guarantee a quick turnaround for visa applications is of little comfort.
Cold shoulder

Despite Irish Ambassador Austin Gormley’s assurance that a “warm Irish welcome” awaits travellers, it feels more like a cold shoulder to our country. Ireland, he said, “of course, enjoys very strong [ties] in Africa, including political, economic, people-to-people and of course, sport.”

Explaining that the new visa requirements were introduced to align with the Schengen area and the UK, he said Ireland would continue to facilitate “legitimate travel” to the country.

Immigration is a hot topic in Ireland. The left-leaning Politico describes parts of Dublin and Cork as being “turned into foul-smelling refugee camps”. These refugees, who escaped war, famine and poverty, view “Ireland as their last-chance saloon to stay in Europe, now that Britain has withdrawn the welcome mat”.

Sharing 500km of a “soft” border with its Northern Ireland neighbour, refugees flooded into the EU through the Irish “back door” to escape Britain’s Rwanda extradition plan, before new UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer acknowledged the plan was “dead and buried”.

European Union law applies to all member states, but three states have negotiated opt-outs from legislation or treaties, so they do not have to participate in certain policy areas.

Before Brexit, the UK had four opt-outs in place (including the euro). Denmark, which has two opt-outs (including the euro), rapidly retreated on its third exemption - security commitments - after Russia attacked Ukraine. Poland has opted out of the Charter of Fundamental Rights. Ireland, which is not part of the Schengen zone but part of the EU, had two opt-outs (from the area of freedom, security and justice and the Schengen agreement), although Europe’s refugee crisis forced it to announce in June that it would opt in to the EU’s Pact on Migration and Asylum, to tackle this global issue in solidarity with other member states.

This sudden change in visa regulations hasn’t gone down well with South African travellers or travel agents, who have described the lack of notice and immediate implementation as “regrettable”.

Irish consul to South Africa Evan Cunningham says travellers concerned about the timeline of their visa application can contact travelrequest@justice.ie.

But it appears the only available appointments through VFS Global are premium and prime slots, costing between £500 and £1,000, which a customer described on Twitter as “pure exploitation after paying the high costs of visas & the minimum monthly wage in SA being less than £200”.

VFS says the appointment system works on a first-come, first-served basis - and it’s the embassies that determine the number of slots.

It’s not about the rugby. But it is a shambles. DM

A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that Ireland is part of the Schengen Zone. Ireland is, in fact, a member of the European Union. We apologise for the error.

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