The Immigrant Council has called for a community response to the migrant crisis.

They are holding a conference this morning to consider Ireland’s reaction to date.

President Michael D Higgins is addressing the conference to call for greater unity in response to the migrant situation.

CEO of the Immigrant Council Brian Killoran, has said we should develop a plan that allows migrants to be accepted into Irish communities. “If you look at countries like Canada how they have responded very comprehensively to it on different scale albeit but at the same time, they did it through opening up the process, to the community.

“They did it by building alliances with civil society, with churches and parishes and they did it by building alliances with members of the public who want to help and they put a system around it that was really effective in actually doing it rather quickly.

“That’s the kind of model we can do on a different scale in Ireland.”