Sir, - It is difficult to know how to respond to Deputy Sean Ardagh's distortion of the facts (Letters, May 10th) in relation to my article on the issue of asylum seekers (Opinion, May 3rd).
Perhaps a few simple facts may help to separate the chaff from the wheat. Mr Ardagh boasts about the True Colours initiative as evidence of the Government's commitment to "developing an integrated approach against racism". The cost of this programme was £17,259, of which £7,148 was paid out for publicity. This kind of money would hardly fund one large newspaper advertisement.
The funding of £150,000 in respect of the National Consultative Committee on Racism and Interculturalism should be put in context also. Mr Noel Dempsey's Department alone spent £571,000 last year on press and public relations functions.
True Colours may have been a worthwhile initiative in itself, but I challenge even Sean Ardagh to state that it is on the scale appropriate to the situation we now find ourselves in. - Yours, etc.,
Ruairi Quinn TD, Leader of the Labour Party, Dail Eireann, Dublin 2.