A chara, - I commend Kevin Myers as a vital voice opening up a national debate on mass immigration (An Irishman's Diary, November 16th). I trust that the shrill response he has received from the usual sources will not deter him.
The Irish people are talking about these matters in their pubs and shops and workplaces. Mr Myers appears to be the only person in the media articulating what I am hearing on all sides.
The fact is that mass immigration suits the interests of the wealthy, be they the employers of underpaid construction or abattoir workers, or the Dublin 4 beau monde who enjoy using a Filipina nanny. There is no evidence that mass immigration is of any benefit to ordinary Irish workers. In fact there is some evidence that mass immigration is harmful, since it drives down wages, increases housing costs, and adds stress to overworked medical and educational systems.
In the 26 Counties we are told we will need 50,000 immigrants a year for the next decade. Given the erroneous predictions as to the numbers who would come following EU enlargement, it would be prudent to take these projections as erring on the low side. Indeed, US Congressman Morrison recently pointed out that the Republic of Ireland is experiencing the highest rate of immigration in the world.
There has even been a prediction that by the middle of this century Irish people will be an ethnic minority in their own homeland. In the face of these extraordinary developments, the greatest demographic change since the plantations of the 17th century, political parties, newspapers, trade unions, employers, churches and (most) journalists all unite to tell us that mass immigration is A Good Thing, and that only a "racist" could object to the ensuing "multiculturalism" (neither term ever defined).
Yet the only time the people were given an opportunity to express an opinion on an immigration-related matter, in the citizenship referendum, they voted to try to put some limits on access to their country.
How does mass immigration affect our health service, our housing prices and availability, our traffic patterns, crime figures, our schools? What will be the outcome when, in a few years, we reach the figure of 25 per cent of Irish residents being foreign-born? Let's have the debate - it should have started five or six years ago.
My own stance is clear. There has always been some immigration to Ireland, and immigration in reasonable quantities is good for our country. But that is not what we have been experiencing for several years. - Is mise,
Dr DAVID BARNWELL, Serpentine Avenue, Dublin 4.
Madam, - Reading Kevin Myers's Irishman's Diary of November 16th sent me to the Central Statistics Office website to check immigration figures.
1. Over the past six years net immigration was approximately 150,000, which is approximately 3.5 per cent of the total population. It is also difficult to estimate how many immigrants have stayed.
2. In 2005 immigration is estimated to rise to 70,000 - its highest ever figure - of which 26,200 are from the new EU accession states. From 2000 to 2005 annual immigration has been averaging 55,000, not 100,000 as Mr Myers claims. In 2004 we had 50,000 immigrants.
3. Immigration from outside Europe and the US is estimated to reach 16,800 this year, falling from a high of 30,000 in 2002. I would also imagine that many of these immigrants would not fall into the category which seems to keep Mr Myers awake at night. - Yours, etc,
DOREEN McNAMARA, Leixlip, Co Kildare.