A chara, - It was with great sadness that I read (The Irish Times, August 27th) of the Department of Justice's decision to reject asylum applications from 47 Romanian gypsies who arrived less than a month ago in Rosslare. Among them were 20 children and a pregnant woman who, like the rest of the applicants, were simply seeking a better life than the one of persecution and discrimination detailed in their testimonies to Irish Government officials. The speed with which these particular applications were rejected by John O'Donoghue's staff has set a disturbing precedent that I fear marks the beginning of an official Government policy of intolerance and ethnic insularity.
What I find most upsetting, however, is that the selective and discriminatory nature of Government policy for non-nationals has, it seems, been rendered possible by a few years of economic prosperity. Don't we remember clearly those not-so-distant days when our Government sanctioned a policy of issuing Irish passports to wealthy foreigners in return for direct investment in our then flailing economy? Yet now, as we bask in the glory of envious prosperity born essentially of foreign investment, Department of Justice officials have deemed it inappropriate to welcome into our prosperous society persecuted ethnic groups from other countries as well as economic emigrants.
I wonder if those officials, when conducting the interviews with these asylum seekers, might have paused for a moment to reflect on members of own their families, from this and previous generations, for whom the tragedy of emigration was the only option for building a secure and stable future. Or have the soothing paws of the Celtic Tiger nurtured selective and convenient memories among these civil servants?
As a returned emigrant myself, may I observe that this certainly is not the "Ireland of the Welcomes" I spoke of with pride to foreign friends who welcomed me without reservation into their societies. I just hope that in the vortex of prosperity we do not lose our grasp on those values and qualities that until now have seen the Irish held in high esteem by other communities across the world. Welcome to Ireland, plc. - Is mise,
Eoghan Ruadh O'Neill,
Bluebell Avenue,
Dublin 12.