Madam - I was saddened, though not surprised, to read Kevin Myers's rendition of the "benignly inept" immigration policy in Ireland (An Irishman's Diary, October 22nd). It seems clear he has not taken the trouble to read the recent report on asylum-seekers to which he refers.
Madam - I was saddened, though not surprised, to read Kevin Myers's rendition of the "benignly inept" immigration policy in Ireland (An Irishman's Diary, October 22nd). It seems clear he has not taken the trouble to read the recent report on asylum-seekers to which he refers.
The report sought to examine, in an unbiased and comparative manner, the extent to which the Refugee Appeals Tribunals system was free and fair. Perhaps, in Mr Myers's view, they need not bother with legal niceties such as the presumption of innocence or the burden of proof. Perhaps the fact that some asylum seekers are Nigerian ought to be enough to discount them directly. Perhaps a better and more cost-effective system would be simply to accept Junior Minister Brian Lenihan's claim that 90 per cent of asylum claims had no basis and to simply retain and reward the last 10 arrivals in every hundred with the right to live and be continually discriminated against in Ireland.
Mr Myers's column is a good instance of how statements uttered by certain politicians are accepted by some as fact. The real fact is that the perceived hordes of asylum-seekers arriving in Europe are indeed a trickle. A slightly less parochial trawl through the world's media would provide conclusive evidence of the strife and ethnic conflicts in states such as Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo. As for the Nigerian exports referred to so eloquently by the writer, let us remember that some "facts" are clearly in the eye of the beholder.
It seems that Mr Myers would have us live in a world free of "the Credulous Compassionate Classes" or the "3Cs", as he puts it. These have their drawbacks - there is little doubt about that. But the world of 3Cs is better than one without the presumption of innocence, without due process, where stereotypes abound and where bold assertions of dubious statements are unquestionably accepted as "fact". - Yours, etc.,
Dr JOSHUA CASTELLINO, Ms C. KENNY, Irish Centre for Human Rights, NUI Galway.
Madam, - Kevin Myers, a columnist with whom I regularly disagree, is totally correct in his observations on illegal immigrants in Ireland.
To refer to the issue runs the risk of being labelled a racist, a xenophobe, etc. But there is little doubt that there are illegal immigrants in Ireland who simply should not be here.
Why? Because their claims to asylum - i.e. in order to flee intimidation or possible death in their homelands - are not true, just as there are many Irish citizens still claiming unemployment benefit that they are not entitled to. Yet those in authority seem intent on sweeping this issue to one side.
Why is this problem not being addressed in the public domain? Because to whisper it, never mind speak of it openly, invites accusations of racism from those who hear but do not listen.- Yours, etc.,
DERMOT KEYES, Brown Street, Portlaw, Co Waterford.