Sir, - In various parts of the country, residents are on the march, protesting against the arrival of asylum-seekers in their towns. They invariably cite a lack of consultation, inadequate infrastructure and an excessive number of newcomers as the reasons for their opposition, yet they fail utterly to explain just what numbers would be acceptable, what improvements in infrastructure are needed, and how long any period of consultation would have to last. Indeed, such arguments could all be used in rural areas to argue against the opening of a new factory, hospital or school - hardly developments that would have the locals out blockading the cement trucks.
Some might say that it is easy for me to be sceptical of these concerns from the ivory towers of Dublin 4, but for decades the citizens of Dublin have had to cope with annual influxes of economically deprived, culturally illiterate and often badly behaved outsiders. These newcomers also put pressure on already inadequate infrastructure and drove up or dragged down (take your pick) house prices. They're called students, and a huge number of them are the children of those who now threaten to picket the homes of asylum-seekers.
One can only hope that those whom we should be welcoming can cope with the petty hostility they will encounter from some of the model citizens of our "island of the welcomes". After all, if you have fled from oppression at the end of a Kalashnikov, or escaped the grinding poverty that forces young women into two-dollar prostitution, the snide remarks of characters who would be more at home in a primary-school production of The Field will not cause you to flee again. - Yours, etc.,
Kevin Ryan, Chair, Young Progressive Democrats, UCD, Dublin 4.