Sir, – If confirmation were needed of the increasing Farageisation of immigration policy in this country one need look no further than the shockingly mean-spirited and cruel changes proposed to the State’s family reunification regulations. I am full of shame for what the Government proposes in our name.
As has been highlighted by the Migrants Rights Centre Ireland, the new policy represents a departure from the previous one whereby a lower (albeit still considerable) income threshold was applied for refugees who wished to bring their family members to the State.
Firstly, the income thresholds now proposed are, the Government must be well aware, unattainable for the many, especially female refugees of much ability but limited education, who work in the care sector looking after Irish family members while cruelly separated from their own.
To value their contribution to society and the vital services they provide solely by reference to their earning capacity is crude and dishonest. To limit access to children only to the well-off is grotesque and inhuman.
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Secondly, the new time limit applied of a three-year wait before applying for reunification coupled with the inevitably long processing timeframe is also draconian and cruel both to the refugee and his / her children left behind. Surely we are better than this?
These measures are shameful and are also to the detriment of the society at large in that they will adversely impact on refugees’ assimilation into society and are by any objective standard unworthy of us.
Life is not easy for refugees. Notwithstanding the relief of a grant of status, it is difficult and lonely to live among strangers, learn new skills and adapt to a new culture while increasingly now also encountering open racism and negativity.
Worry about absent family members, especially children, is a constant.
As someone who worked for refugees and migrants over the years I have a vivid recollection of the transformative effect on these often profoundly depressed people of their family members rejoining them.
More than 20 years later I know many of such people whose children are now educated to third level and contributing to our community and caring for their parents.
We Irish have over the centuries expected to be accepted everywhere and pride ourselves on our contribution to other nations.
It ill behoves us to fall into the trap of scapegoating or penalising persons in need of protection for problems not of their making.
The current housing shortage is the product of systemic neglect and mismanagement by successive governments of every hue for the past 50 years, beginning with the abolition of housing rates and compounded by the greed of the so-called Celtic Tiger.
We should also appreciate that while there might be initial short-term pressures, the effect of inward migration is ultimately positive, especially where there is such a manpower shortage in the health and services sectors and our birth rate is falling.
I hope that on reflection these measures will be revised and that decency will prevail. – Yours, etc
EVELYN LEYDEN,
Co Clare.
Sage advice
Sir, – Listening to various radio programmes this week, I found the following advice – use less sugar and salt, and clean underwear, nightwear and socks are essential every 24 hours.
Socks must be ironed. Get at least seven hours sleep.
Exercise should include jogging, squats, press-ups.
Dinner, with all family members, should be eaten at 6.28 pm precisely. Well, have a great day, whatever you’re up to. – Yours, etc,
MARGARET BUTLER,
Booterstown.
Co Dublin.
Not registering An Post prices
Sir, – I went to my local post office to send a letter by registered post to Shannon and when I went to tap pay for it I honestly thought there was a mistake with the price at €9.50, the lady assured me there was no mistake. May I suggest to whoever is in charge to put a sign on all front windows of post offices saying we do not want your business because their prices certainly give that message?
The ironic part is that I chose registered post because it is hard to trust the normal post. – Yours, etc,
JOE HARVEY,
Glenageary,
Co Dublin.
Sir, – There has been a lot of commentary about the post and I have no sympathy with the postal services for all those delayed deliveries.
I do need to say though that an envelope I sent on Monday, January 12th from the UK has arrived safely to a family member today, January 15th so I need to give credit where credit is due.
Mind you, with nearly the same cost in postage I could have caught a Ryanair flight and delivered it in person in less time. – Yours, etc,
JOHN BERGIN,
Oxton Wirral,
England.
Sir, – Thank goodness for technology. Trying to get a letter printed in The Irish Times is difficult enough. With my hit and miss rate I’d need a second mortgage if I had to use An Post. – Yours, etc,
DAVID CURRAN,
Knocknacarra,
Galway.
A proposal on hot school meals
Sir, – Hot school meals have been the subject of vigorous debate since their introduction in 2019 and the subject of an Oireachtas committee meeting this week.
The scheme, which makes half a million children eligible for hot school meals, has a budget of €300 million.
Meanwhile, concerns regarding food quality, food waste, the volume of waste packaging, along with the onerous administrative burden and procurement pressures continues unabated.
But have we got hot school meals all wrong? With a budget of €3.20 per meal, is it even possible to provide a hot meal in a box that is nutritious, tasty and cost effective?
Would public diners close to schools be the answer?
The reality is that hot school meals are just one arm of a much larger problem. The cost of living makes healthy food unaffordable for many.
At the same time, half our shopping baskets (46 per cent) are stuffed with ultra processed food often layered with salt, fat, sugar and additives. Fibre and nutrients have been squeezed out to prolong shelf life and preserve taste.
Public diners, positioned close to schools, could provide hot school meals as well as the needs of the local community. Because they serve a lot of food a day, costs could be kept to a minimum while maintaining quality. Imagine public infrastructure in Ireland that met the needs of school- going children as well as people of all ages and backgrounds, who could eat nutritious, locally produced food at affordable prices in their own communities.
Such a concept existed in the UK during the second World War, with 2,000 British restaurants providing 600,000 affordable meals a day, designed to meet a third of people’s energy needs.
Providing reheated food with a sprinkling of vegetables in a gloopy sauce, all in a plastic or cardboard box for hundreds of thousands of children every day bears no comparison to the alternative.
We have an obesity crisis and no political commitment to regulate the food environment that has caused it. Time to think outside the cardboard box that provides reheated gloopy food – much of which ends up in the bin. – Yours, etc,
CATHERINE CONLON,
Ballintemple,
Cork.
ICCL guidance for schools
Sir, – Pat Leahy’s article on the Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) guidance for schools raises a serious issue: in Ireland the Children First Act 2015 is the primary statutory framework governing any organisation that works with children. It is not optional, and it is not subordinate to NGO guidance, however well-intentioned. (“Watchdog says schools must use students’ preferred pronouns,” January 16th).
It is striking that every page of the ICCL guide carries the disclaimer: “Important: this guide is for your information only.”
It is not intended to be a substitute for legal advice.” That small print protects the authors, but it does not protect schools, boards of management, or principals.
Children First is not merely a reporting obligation when harm is suspected. It requires schools and youth services to identify risks in advance, especially in high-vulnerability settings such as toilets, changing rooms and overnight accommodation, and to design systems that reduce opportunity and ambiguity. This is the core logic of safeguarding.
A school’s first legal duty is not to affirm identities, but to protect all children’s safety, privacy and dignity through proportionate, documented risk management.
Courts and Tusla will not ask whether an NGO guide was followed; they will ask whether foreseeable risks were identified and reduced.
Inclusion policies cannot replace risk assessment. Only Children First-compliant safeguarding systems protect children and institutions alike. – Yours, etc,
SANDRA ADAMS,
Baldoyle,
Dublin 13.
A catastrophic scenario
Sir, – If the US invades Greenland, the consequences for the planet may well be existentially catastrophic (“‘Fundamental disagreement’ over Greenland, says Danish minister.” World News, January 15th) – Nato: destroyed; UN: destroyed; EU trade with US: destroyed; environmental destruction: accelerated; climate change: accelerated; Russia: continuation of its war on Ukraine; Israel: further tightening of its vice grip on Gaza and the West Bank; China: invades Taiwan; US: riven by civil strife, democracy: replaced by George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four.
You don’t need to be a Nostradamus to see the writing on the wall. – Yours, etc,
CHRIS FITZPATRICK,
Terenure,
Dublin 6.
Cyclists and motorists debate
Sir, – As someone who lives abroad for most of the year I have ample opportunity to see how, unlike in Dublin, cyclists on the Continent generally adhere to road traffic rules.
Driving in Dublin is a nightmare for many reasons, but high on the list is the fact that cyclists and electric scooter riders are a law unto themselves.
Therefore, I applauded Judge James O’Donohoe’s recent comments on the subject. Despite the faux outrage of the cycling lobby, the fact remains that many cyclists ignore traffic lights, cycle on pavements and remain inadequately lit at night.
Imagine my dismay yesterday when in a follow-up piece your newspaper decided that a totally unconnected matter regarding Judge O’Donohoe’s own driving history was relevant. A clear case of shooting the messenger.
If I wanted this calibre of journalism I’d subscribe to a British tabloid, not The Irish Times. – Yours, etc,
JOHN SCULLY,
Burlington Road,
Dublin 4.
Sir, – Motorists who can never anticipate what cyclists are going to do might accept a tip from this cyclist.
Ride a bicycle in town and country for a few weeks and you will quickly learn to anticipate what other road users are going to do because your life might depend on it.
You will be a better driver afterwards. – Yours, etc.
BRENDAN GRIMES,
Skerries,
CoDublin.
Missing climate targets
Sir, – I was horrified to read that the 2025 Climate Action Plan has been delayed because of the recent general election and the change in government (“Climate action plan delayed for second year,” January 16th).
The outcome of this is that we will probably be fined millions of euro for missing our targets.
My question is this, do all government departments stop working during a general election? Does the State cease to function, what else is abandoned during these periods?
Now we know why everything the Government promises are late. The answer is to have fewer general elections and changes in government. – Yours, etc,
BILL KEE.
Skerries,
Co Dublin.
Dogs and restaurants
Sir, – In A Dog’s Dinner (Letters, January 13th) the writer asks if something has changed in relation to pets in restaurants. The Irish Times archive always has the answers and in an article in 2018 (“Chow down, pets now legally allowed in restaurants, but are they welcome,” February 23rd) the changes, of eight years ago, are set out.
As the owner of a small dog, who is more popular in local establishments than I am, I can attest to overwhelmingly positive reactions to a well-behaved doggie in a bar and restaurant.
The writer is correct that the pet should not have his paws on the table, this comes down to the owner not providing correct discipline.
I am sure we all have experience of the failure of others to correctly discipline excited tablemates. However, I imagine they overwhelmingly involve the two-legged species, and not the four legged.
Dining with your best friend, in the small number of establishments that welcome it, is particularly important to those who live with just a pet.
Sometimes the pet being there allows the owner to chat to others more easily.
These small joys are a good thing but dog owners should follow the guidance set out in Chow down.
There is a space and spaces for all of us – it just requires a little understanding. – Yours, etc,
STEPHEN McNAMARA,
Dublin.
