Sir, - The statistics released last week on asylum-seekers, showing a 90 per cent refusal rate of refugee status, indicate a hardening of attitude that does nothing to reverse Ireland's diminishing reputation as a land of welcomes.
What short memories we have! Where would we be now if thousands of twenty-somethings (economic refugees in all but name) had been refused visas to the USA in the 1980s and had remained as a burden on the State? Is it any wonder that refugees suffer discrimination when we appear unable to resolve the relatively simple issue of granting them work permits?
As a first step, the Department of Justice, in line with the Supreme Court Fajujonu ruling, should immediately reinstate the practice of issuing Green Books to non-nationals who have had children born in Ireland. As a further measure, temporary work permits should be issued to all non-nationals available for work. This might go to some way to addressing the employment crisis in the services and small business sector. Finally, as a millennium gesture, the Department might also consider offering all non-nationals currently living in Ireland the right to apply for Irish citizenship at a specified future date (in, say, two or three years' time) conditional on a clean record and success in securing employment.
Being good Europeans requires more than astute investment of EC handouts. It also has to do with accepting a proportionate share of responsibility for those seeking escape from persecution or the chance of a better life within the EC. It's time to stop talking up a crisis and start acting like the mature Europeans that we aspire to be. - Yours, etc., Gerry Loughrey,
Coolatree Park, Beaumont, Dublin 9.