Sir - Having just returned from a visit to the men's hostel on Morning Star Avenue, Dublin 1, I pick up my copy of The Irish Times (March 1st) where I find a letter from A. Crowley, chair of the Refugee Support Group, Westport, Co Mayo.While Mr/Ms Crowley praises hostel owners where asylum seekers (not refugees) are housed for the warmth and cleanliness of their premises, s/he then goesinto the most unbelievable whinge about everything else.
S/he says holiday hostels are not suitable because men and women are forced to share rooms with total strangers; because storage space is at a premium; because bus fares and telephone calls are expensive. Mr/Ms Crowley ends by deploring theGovernment's position on dispersal and direct provision which does not allow for the dignity of privacy and the opportunity of self-catering.
May I ask A. Crowley to please visit either the men's, women's, or family hostel on Morning Star Avenue, where s/he will find hostels run by very caring volunteers and Brothers and Sisters, where the guests are Irish men, womenand children. Young families sleep 40 to a dormitory; they have no privacy; they have no storage; they do not have full board; they must leave the hostelearly in the morning and they must fend for themselves on the streets because they may not return until about 5.30 p.m. And, oh yes, they have to pay £15 perweek for these privileges. A. Crowley and his/her guests seem to have it made in Westport. I wouldn't recommend a transfer to Morning Star Avenue. - Yours, etc.,
Andrew Christopher, Glasnevin, Dublin 11