Sir, - There's no own goal like an away own goal. It seems the Taoiseach had to get about as far away as he could from Ireland before favouring us with his views on asylum seeker detention.
Mr Ahern is right about one thing. The Australian system is, by and large, quite good and quite progressive, once people have been admitted to that country. It has one glaring defect - the detention of asylum seekers while their cases are being heard, a process which can take years. The detention of persons who have not committed a crime is morally wrong and would contravene the letter and spirit of our international and European convention obligations. The effect of incarceration, or internment, is devastating for the individual and can only be corrosive for the society which condones it.
Ten years ago there were up to 80,000 Irish illegals in the USA. Unlike asylum-seekers, they were not fleeing war, famine or persecution. In fact they were classic economic migrants, a category which it has become fashionable to dismiss in this country. If the US Government had detained them in mass internment camps, would Mr Ahern have called their system "probably the best in the world"?
Life is precarious enough already for many asylum seekers in Ireland and elsewhere, living in limbo. This sort of political loose talk is not only irresponsible and ill-informed: it is a cruel and unusual form of abuse. Moreover, I cannot imagine that the gardai, Army, immigration service or other public servants would want to have anything to do with such a shameful proposal - perhaps it is not a coincidence that the facilities run by the unfortunately-named Australian Correctional Service is a privatised one. - Yours, etc.,
Piaras Mac einri, Stiurthoir, Ionad na hImirce, Ollscoil Naisiunta na hEireann, Corcaigh.