A briefing for the boss of the IDA said the agency was prepared to work with any political party including Sinn Féin and that the Irish media were disproportionately reporting on protests and disturbances caused by the far right.
Q&As prepared for CEO Michael Lohan in advance of a U.K. media tour explained how the IDA was an agency of the state and would work with any political party that was elected to government.
The briefings were prepared last autumn and in advance of the November general election and said Mr Lohan needed to be ready for questions on housing shortages, Ireland’s neutrality, and rising anti-immigration sentiment.
On the explosion in anti-immigrant hostility, the briefing said Ireland had always been a welcoming place, but that housing and infrastructure pressures were being felt nationwide.
The Q&A said: “Unfortunately when such pressures occur, it provides an opportunity for a small number of right-wing extremists to exploit the situation for their own cause.
“And unfortunately, the media disproportionately report on any protests or disturbances presenting the wrong impression.”
On the shortage of homes, the advisory said that a growing economy with rapid population increase had inevitably led to “significant housing pressure.”
“Our population has grown by 10 percent to 5.1 million,” said the briefing. “Thankfully, the population growth is spread across different regions of the country, which is very welcome from an FDI [foreign direct investment] perspective.
“Housing is the Number One domestic policy challenge facing government and they recognise that we need to be building more houses, in the right locations and at affordable prices.”