Sir, - Jackie Healy-Rae's latest ignorant outbursts demonstrate how vast the difference between knowledge and understanding can be for some people. Mr Healy-Rae has complained that neither he nor the people of Ireland know enough about the personal histories and motives of immigrants arriving here to welcome them into the country and its communities. Although I suspect he could learn the details of every immigrant's life and still remain utterly clueless, I'll oblige Mr Healy-Rae with some of my own background.
I first came Ireland on a student work permit in 1995. After returning to New York, where I was born and raised, to finish my degree, I came back to Ireland for a year to be with my Irish girlfriend and to explore work opportunities. I spent the two years after that in the US working towards an M.A., then moved to Ireland yet again, eager to pursue the successes of my previous visits. I plan to stick around for the foreseeable future. My papers are in order, I am not carrying any infectious diseases and I have no criminal record. I am also employed and pay my taxes.
That's probably not the image of immigration Mr Healy-Rae is trying to proliferate, but it is a part of the overall picture. I hope it helps clear things up for him and his ilk. Now, if someone from South Kerry could explain to me how this man got himself elected to the national legislative body of this otherwise dignified democracy, we might all start to feel a little bit reassured about each other's histories and motivations. - Yours, etc.
Jon Ihle, Meade's Terrace, Dublin 2.