I know that Mr Shatter is Jewish, I believe he is the first ever Jew to be an Irish government minister.
Not by a long stretch as there have been previous Minsters in Govt including quite a few Lord Mayors of Dublin.
they seem irrelevant when considering the fate of the Jews attempting to escape Nazi oppression in the 1930's. There seems little doubt that Ireland's refusal to offer asylum to Jews at this time was in no small way influenced by the Catholic Church, whose attitude to the Jews in those days can at best be described as ambivalent.
Ireland allowed few emigrants in at that point in time because its own poverty caused a concern that emigrants would cause further issues.
With reference to the MS St Louis, it should be noted that the United Kingdom accepted 288 of the 930 refugees who returned to Europe after its abortive trip to Cuba, the USA and Canada. I am not aware that Ireland took any in.
No they didn't and neither did most countrys, Ireland's stance was neutrality in staying out of the big powers fights.
In 1937 The Irish Constitution gave constitutional protection members of the Jewish faith along with other religions...........
In 1948 DeValera over ruled his own Dept of Justice to allow in Jewish children and again in 52.
Monsignor O'Flaherty of The Scarlet Pimpernel movie worked extensively with Irish Foreign Minister to the Vatican in Rome to provide diplomatic protection to thousands of Jews in Rome acting under Irish Govt orders.