Sir, - As someone who came as a refugee/immigrant to the UK many years ago and has since settled in Ireland, permit me to comment on the current controversy.
The argument that Ireland is duty bound to accept all who come here because of past Irish emigration, is based on a false premise. Mass Irish emigration to the New World occurred at a time when those countries needed a great influx of labour in order to develop; Italians, Greeks, Yugoslavs, and others also emigrated to the US in huge numbers.
In the 1950s and 1960s Turks, Greeks and Yugoslavs emigrated in droves to Germany and Scandinavia, just as the Irish went to the UK, US and Australia; again their labour was needed. When the demand for labour stopped, so did the acceptance of immigrants. Emigration to the UK cannot be considered as typical due to the rather unusual administrative relationship between UK and Ireland.
While it may be desirable on humanitarian and perhaps moral grounds for Ireland to admit all genuine refugees and asylum seekers who land on her shores, reality demands that the inflow is controlled. Whether this limits the numbers to be admitted within a short, medium or long term is something to be determined by the Government and the relevant agencies. Uncontrolled influx will not only overwhelm the social services, but is likely to lead to ever-increasing protests from the unemployed and the homeless among the Irish people, and indeed from Irish taxpayers.
Those who complain about social welfare and rent allowances, B & B accommodation and other hand-outs do have a point, as this would appear to be a waste of limited resources. I was involved with the arrival of the first group of refugees from Bosnia, and the reception system was much better organised then. They, and the subsequent groups, were housed in the old nurses' home at Cherry Orchard Hospital, where they were looked after, given the opportunity to learn English, and were eventually released into the Irish society, where the majority have integrated very well. There must be other buildings, both in Dublin and elsewhere, which could be converted into reception hostels for those allowed in until their cases for asylum or refugee status are decided.
To those who may decry the idea of camps, I would suggest that humanely run hostels and organised education, are a more attractive proposition than wandering the streets of Dublin begging. Properly controlled immigration and efficient screening will provide sanctuary for those in genuine need. Uncontrolled influx will not only overwhelm the very system which is supposed to help these people, but will also give rise to various social problems, not excluding the rise in racism. - Yours, etc.,
Rathfarnham, Dublin 16.