European Diary: The two Romanians who viewed my house recently probably didn't hear the whispers from some locals. But the real estate agent showing the home for rent wasn't left in any doubt - the couple would not be welcomed by everybody in my part of Ireland.
"We don't want foreigners living here," said one local, while another left a message to the same effect on the phone of a friend minding the property. Intolerance towards foreigners is alive and well in Ireland.
Ironically, the incident occurred just a few days before the European Commission leaked news that it would recommend Romania and Bulgaria for EU entry next year. The decision means that on January 1st, 2007, both countries will become our newest European partners. On this date Bulgarians and Romanians will gain rights based on their EU citizenship. Existing restrictions on travel and studying within the EU will be lifted.Yet one of the four basic EU freedoms, the right to work in any member state, is still in doubt.
Only Finland has said it will fully open its labour market to citizens of both countries. Sweden, Britain and Ireland - the three countries to open their labour markets to the 10 new entrants that joined the EU in May 2004 - are all stalling. Indications from Dublin and London are that they will impose restrictions.
"I don't feel under any pressure to make any quick decisions on this . . . I will keep it under review," said Taoiseach Bertie Ahern on the sidelines of an EU summit at the weekend. Fianna Fáil is aware that immigration is a vote winner - and loser. Labour has already tapped into immigration fears, with Pat Rabbitte expressing concern that unrestricted access may undermine the pay and conditions of Irish workers.
The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) urged the British government last week to "pause for breath" and impose restrictions, while Ibec remains suspiciously silent on the topic of Bulgaria and Romania.
In Britain the populist press is already raising tensions, with one newspaper urging the government to "bolt the door".
Unsurprisingly, the scare stories are creating resentment in both states. Last week Romanian foreign minister Mihai-Razvan Ungureanu told The Irish Times he "would like to disparage the image of a country that is now like Middle Ages barbarians knocking down the barriers of a civilised Europe". Bulgarian prime minister Sergei Stanishev asked people not to be "naive". People who really want to work in old EU member states are already in Britain or in Spain, he said, while noting the large numbers of Irish property investors flooding into Bulgaria.
A debate on whether to open Ireland's labour market to workers from our newest EU partners is clearly warranted. After all, more than 200,000 people have travelled here from states such as Poland, Latvia and Lithuania to find work since 2004. There may be a case for imposing restrictions on Bulgaria and Romania, which are poor countries with very low average earnings. But there may also be a cost to erecting barriers.
Last week the European Citizen Advice Service published a report saying the Irish economy had reached a milestone in its history, with two million people in jobs precisely because of migration. Vacancies would probably remain unfilled without migrants because native western Europeans were reluctant to do certain menial jobs, said the report, which concluded there was "little probability that migrants crowd out nationals on the labour market". It also speculated that Bulgarians and Romanians were more likely to travel to Spain and Italy, states that already have large numbers of migrants from both countries, probably due to similarities in language.
Putting up barriers to workers could also boost the "black economy". Migrants may still come to Ireland but will end up working illegally for unscrupulous employers, benefiting from no labour rights and contributing no taxes to the State. Meanwhile, economists say there is a still a need for at least 30,000 new workers per year to keep the economy growing. With wages rising in Poland, Latvia and Lithuania and other western European states loosening restrictions on these people, we may start seeing a drop-off in migrants from the central European states. Who will work in the hotels, restaurants and fields if this supply of labour begins to dry up? Instead of making the effort to put in place temporary administrative barriers to our new EU partners, the Government may be better employed compiling accurate statistics on how long EU migrants actually spend in Ireland before returning home. It should also make more efforts to better integrate migrants and, above all, educate Irish people about the merits of immigration rather than letting prejudices run rampant.