Irish people must build bridges of understanding with immigrants to avoid a society plagued with violence and ghettos, it was warned today.
The Church of Ireland Archbishop of Dublin, the Most Rev Dr John Neill, said people must communicate with those who are coming to our shores "with little or nothing."
He said: "There is a price to be paid in being a welcoming and multi-cultural society.
"We have to be willing to learn about the way others live and think. We have to go out of our way to understand that many coming to Ireland today have been traumatised, whether by violence, political oppression or poverty.
"Unless bridges of understanding are built, then the result will be ghettos defined by fear and violence."
In his Christmas message, he questioned whether the welcome stretched beyond "well-heeled returning emigrants" and big spending tourists.
"'Ireland of the Welcomes' must take a deep breath," he said.
Dr Neill said the wonder of the miraculous Christmas story of the birth of baby Jesus quickly gives way to their account of the flight into Egypt.
"Joseph and Mary had to flee with Jesus so that his life would be spared. Infants were being cruelly slaughtered in Judea," he said.
The Archbishop stressed the people and causes that stir our hearts at Christmas do not disappear at the end of the month.