Sir, - If, as Mr McGeorge says, (May 17th) the kernel of the controversy is the number of bogus asylum-seekers, why does he go to such inordinate length to tell us exactly which type of immigrant, bogus or not, he is prepared to countenance as neighbours?
According to him "we live in a world of images". I grew up in the London of the 1950s where the image of the Irish was that of the feckless, lazy, drunk and where "No dogs. No blacks. No Irish" (presumably a declension of desirability) was a fairly common sign in bedsit land. My eldest brother even dropped the O' from our surname in an attempt to hide his origins. This ridiculous nonsense was all the result of what Mr McGeorge calls "image" and is therefore, presumably, perfectly all right by him. Or is English bigotry somehow less acceptable than its Irish equivalent?
I'm not sure if I'm a "pharisaic liberal" but I do live in an area which has already been dubbed "Little Africa" and I'm perfectly happy with my new neighbours. I would, however, feel a little uneasy about living next door to Mr McGeorge. - Yours, etc.
Robert O'Mahoney, North Great Georges Street, Dublin 1.