Sir, - The recent comments of Ms Aine Ni Chonaill and the Immigration Control Platform (ICP - does it also stand for InComers Prohibited?) seem to ignore the fact that, like it or not, Ireland and Europe are part of a rapidly growing global neighbourhood in which this country benefits from both foreign skills and economic investment. In an increasingly interdependent world, where individual nations are constrained in what they can achieve, what happens far away matters much more now, be it an economic slump in the Far East or a refugee crisis in Africa. Although the impulse to possess and defend turf is powerful for all species, it is one that human beings must overcome.
With physical and bureaucratic borders being eroded by global economics, migrations and technology, today's interdependence is compelling people to recognise the unity of the planet. More than ever, people need each other for their welfare and survival.
We must now have an international perspective where no individual is treated less favourably because of their race. The commitment to care for others is in many cultures embodied as the highest form of human behaviour. Under ICP proposals is our internationally renowned Irish hospitality to be limited to white Europeans? - Yours, etc.,
Jim Nisbet, Sackville Court, Blessington Street, Dublin 7.