Sir, - I hope you'll allow me to use the columns of your newspaper to sincerely thank Mr Ivor Callely for persuading me, after an interval of almost 10 years, to vote in the next national elections. He has reminded me that abstention from voting is sometimes a dangerous luxury.
My unwillingness to vote - itself the product of disgust with Irish political parties - had survived the disgraceful outpourings of our laughably-titled Minister for "Justice", and the somewhat more tremulous sniping of Mr Dermot Ahern. Mr Calelly's remarks, however, suggest that the earlier attacks were mere testflights, and that we are now in for a bout of good, old-fashioned scapegoating of yet another powerless group - one which (best of all from a politician's point of view) doesn't even have voting rights!
While I've heard it suggested that recent comments have been carefully orchestrated, I cannot believe this is the case. Maybe it's just dewy-eyed naivety, but I persist in believing that, no matter what past evidence may indicate, there still remain certain fundamental levels of baseness to which even Irish politicians simply will not stoop. What does seem perfectly clear, however, is that:
(a) certain groups or individuals within Fianna Fail see refugee-bashing as a vote-winner;
(b) many Opposition politicians, unsure of how the electoral wind is blowing, have refrained from comment until it seems politically advantageous;
(c) the increasingly vile talk will sooner or later be seized on by others to justify even viler actions.
Talk such as that of Messrs O'Donoghue, Ahern and Callelly is - as has been proven ad nauseam elsewhere - dangerous as well as simply disgusting. That the worst of this talk should come from men directly charged with ensuring the simple human welfare of the targeted group is very unacceptable.
There is more at stake here than political power and pensions. As sure as eggs is eggs, someone somewhere in this country is a little closer to stomping a refugee because of these remarks. When that happens - and it may happen any day - what will these three wise men say? I dare say they'll deny any connection between that act and their words. And what will the other, greater Mr Ahern say? His dogs are barking, and are doing so in full view of the public; this time he must be seen to haul quite firmly on the leash. - Yours, etc.,
Gerard Whelan, Commons Road, Clondalkin, Dublin 18.