Sir, - The refugees who have come to Ireland over the past four years are not living in million-pound houses in Foxrock, Killiney or Ballsbridge. Nor can they afford to attend the exclusive fee-paying schools and private sports clubs increasingly popular among Dublin's uppermiddle class. It is easy to proclaim yourself to be against racism and welcoming to refugees - and even economic migrants - when your life is insulated from contact with those of poorer means, whether born in Ireland or abroad.
The arrival of a considerable number of non-EU migrants in Dublin since 1996 has meant greater pressure on the housing and schools which serve the poorer members of the populace. During this period successive governments have placed a higher priority on reducing upper rates of tax for the already wealthy than on reducing the vast social inequalities which exist in Dublin. If not wanting to mix with recently arrived migrants is racist, then is the Dublin uppermiddle decision not to mix with those living in corporation houses or flats and attending ordinary schools any different? - Yours, etc.,
Rob Cannon, Lincoln College Oxford, England.