Sir, – I am grateful to you for publishing Sorcha Pollak's article ("Hundreds queue through night on Dublin street for Irish visas", September 25th) on the situation outside the Garda National Immigration Bureau in Dublin.
Has anyone ever imagined what it is like standing in the queue? I have been working in Dublin as a doctor for two years and have to visit the visa office every so often to renew stamps and so on. Each visit has been the same as yesterday’s, having to brave the ear-piercing wind and rain for most of the night, answering calls from frustrated employers in the early hours of the morning and explaining why I might not be at work in time.
But my situation was by no means the worst. I saw children, from newborns to slightly older, cuddled with their parents or in their prams, shivering with cold, crying due to the extreme weather and lack of sleep, and parents trying to comfort them by promising them they would go home very soon.
One toddler started coughing and sneezing and the parents exchanged nervous glances, clearly terrified he might get ill, but what option did they have but to wait and hope?
I saw an old lady, accompanied by her son, sitting down on the road as standing was too much for old knees to take.
As finally the night faded, the doors opened. The mother and father of a sick child pleaded with the officials, but they were told nothing could be done, and to please arrive earlier next time.
These people are not illegal immigrants. They are all working, paying tax and studying. What have they done to deserve this? – Yours, etc,
FAIZAN REHMAN,
Skerries,
Co Dublin.