Sir, - Could John O'Donoghue please tell us what crime asylum-seekers have committed that they require an "amnesty"? He also seems to be under the impression that "ghettoisation" has to do with skin colour rather than with poverty and neglect. Is it any wonder that some people have objected to the housing of refugees in their area when he talks of the refugee "problem" and the costs involved? Loose talk is fostering intolerance.
The Minister needs not only to be more careful in his use of language, but also to provide leadership in tackling intolerance. He should ask himself why there have been no successful prosecutions under the current Incitement to Hatred legislation despite the recent rise in racism. He could also start tackling the misconceptions about asylum-seekers. They are no more disease-carrying, scam artists, spongers or war criminals than Irish emigrants were lazy drunkards who fought among themselves. While he is at it, he might pluck up the courage to talk about the benefits that refugees and asylum-seekers have brought to Ireland in the past and can bring in the future. From the Book of Kells onwards, refugees have contributed much that we are proud to call "Irish". - Yours, etc.,
Peter Fitzgerald, Arran Quay Apartments, Dublin 7.