Sir, - I cannot agree with Sarah Glennane (April 28th), who equates welcoming 40 tourists into a village like Clogheen with accommodating an equivalent number of refugees. Refugees, by their nature, require accommodation and services 365 days a year. Unlike tourists, refugees need proper, ongoing medical, social, and educational services. In many cases they may need counselling and help to integrate into Irish society. I doubt whether we will be able to provide such comprehensive services to the refugee community if they are dispersed to rural areas of Ireland. Accommodating refugees, especially in the longer term, is not as simple as making sure they have bed and food.
Ireland has a duty to treat refugees and asylum-seekers with respect. It also has a duty to treat Irish people with respect. Putting 40 refugees into a small village of 400 will surely have a huge impact on the community. One of the difficult things for the asylum-seekers - and the villagers - is that they will not be arriving on equal terms with the inhabitants. They will not be able to work and will have very little to spend on pastimes. Surely proper integration can only happen when we are more or less on equal terms and this can only happen when refugees can work and choose where to live.
I live in an area in Dublin which already accommodates many refugees. Here, in the city, at least there is more access to services. There is not such a huge impact on the community as would happen in villages such as Clogheen. - Yours, etc., Emma Smith,
Grangorman Lower, Dublin 7.