Sir, – The tone of your editorial “The Irish Times view on refugees coming to Europe: leaders need to mind their language” (February 12th) says a lot about the current mindset of The Irish Times which seems to be in thrall to unelected NGOs. I agree that there certainly is a need for political leaders to mind their language in the current febrile climate on asylum seeking so as not to give succour to a minuscule far right faction that is stirring up racism for its own ends.
However, there is also a need for facts to be stated and investigated so it is surely not beyond the investigative powers of the The Irish Times to ascertain the success and failure rate of international protection applicants.
Statistics on this area are shrouded in mystery which, allied to large-scale destruction of documents by close to 40 per cent of applicants, is leading to the general public suspecting that the taxpayer is being taken for a ride by both by a large number of bogus applicants and a cumbersome and ineffective process. – Yours, etc,
MICHAEL FLYNN,
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Dublin 13.