Sir, - The Romanian choir farce is just the latest sign of an increasing trend. How long can we allow this to continue? There is no longer a repressive regime in power in Bucharest. Surly one of the requirements to be an asylum-seeker is you must be fleeing institutionalised persecution. This is not the case in Romania, nor in many of the other countries from which people are arriving. A Romanian journalist stated on RTE radio from Bucharest that Ireland was seen as "an easy country to enter with good social welfare payments". This is the reality. If we do not do something radical to change this image we just will not be able to cope. Meanwhile, the small number of genuine asylum-seekers will be lost in the rush. - Yours, etc., James J. Mac Kenna,
Whitecliff, Rathfarnham, Dublin 16.