Sir, - Thomas P. Walsh is even more confused that I thought originally. In his latest letter (August 22nd), he calls for a public debate on the "nature and origins of racism". In the same letter, he seems also to expect this to become a research project for university scientists.
If Mr Walsh knows of any scientific question that was resolved by public debate among non-scientists, he should let us know . Scientific inquiry is best left to scientists, but matters of social policy are the stuff of public debate. Science, of course, can be one voice in any debate, but justice and equity may be more important.
No doubt a scientific discipline such as evolutionary psychology can contribute much to our under standing of the human condition, but this is a discipline still in its infancy, and how it can contribute in the short term to social policy is not at all clear. It is also unclear if it can contribute anything positive.
The injection of half-baked scientific ideas into the field of "racial" policy has led in the past to the grossest injustices such as genocide, slavery and eugenic sterilisation. The current matter for debate is the Irish response to a society of multiple races and cultures. Given several lively exchanges in these pages, I do not see how Mr Walsh can claim that this topic is "taboo". What may be of assistance is an account of how other countries (Canada and New Zealand spring to mind) have dealt successfully with this transition.
The last thing we need is an opportunity for people to parade their prejudices under the cover of a so-called "scientific debate". - Yours, etc.,
Toby Joyce, Balreask Manor, Navan.