Ireland's position on Jewish refugees fleeing Europe was sceptical. Irish authorities during the war generally gave two justifications for turning away prospective immigrants: that they would overcrowd the nation and take Irish jobs, and that the presence of a large Jewish population would inflame anti-Semitic sentiments amongst the Irish. There was some domestic anti-Jewish sentiment during World War II, most notably expressed in a notorious speech to the Dáil in 1943, when newly elected independent TD Oliver J. Flanagan advocated "routing the Jews out of the country".