A chara, – Leslie Lawless asks a very good question (Letters, December 8th), when will Ireland take a position on the burqa? However this shouldn't be seen in isolation as just one question concerning one particular form of dress.
Here in France the government is struggling to integrate a very large community that has no affection for, or allegiance to, the State. The burqa is only one of a myriad of seemingly innocuous demands at local and national level to accommodate cultural and community particularities, but when taken together this myriad becomes a serious undermining of state and society.
A nonexhaustive list of concessions made by my own town of Clichy includes the gifting of land and buildings for two mosques, halal-only menus in state schools and the closing of an art exhibition deemed offensive.
Next on the neverending list of seemingly harmless requests is the segregation of the town swimming pool with different days for men and women. Each concession on its own may seem harmless, but when taken together a more sinister picture emerges.
In France the banning of the burqa is too little too late, but in Ireland it will help the Irish Muslim community, men and women, to be an esteemed and integrated part of Irish society.
– Le gach dea-ghuí,
CIARÁN MAC GUIL
Clichy,
An Fhrainc.