Minister of State Ms Liz O'Donnell has spoken out forcefully against attempts to exploit anti-refugee sentiment as an election issue after inflammatory literature was distributed to her constituents.
Letters delivered to some residents in Ms O'Donnell's Dublin South West constituency dub her the "queen of illegal refugees" and accuse her of allowing Dublin to become an African colony.
The Minister told The Irish Times yesterday she would not be daunted by such "menacing literature" aimed at scapegoating and demonising all asylum-seekers, and urged other politicians to speak out against similar "intimidatory tactics".
"I have sent the material to the Department of Justice to see if they could ascertain the source of it because it's quite a sinister development and it's an extension of raising the race card in an election period," she said.
The Progressive Democrat TD has repeatedly called for humane treatment of asylum-seekers. In autumn 1999 she forcefully criticised immigration and asylum policy as a "shambles" after chaotic scenes outside the refugee applications centre in Dublin.
Her party has clashed openly with its Fianna Fáil partners in government by advocating giving all asylum-seekers the right to work after six months.
The crudely-stencilled letters to Ms O'Donnell, purporting to come from the Anti-Refugee Alliance, say: "Declare war on illegal refugees and this campaign will stop. We will be going to Dublin South West."
They also pledge to target the constituencies of the Fianna Fáil TDs, Mr Brian Lenihan who represents Dublin West, and Mr Conor Lenihan whose seat is in Dublin South-West.
The letters say the campaign against Fianna Fáil policy on "illegal refugees" will continue until the party stops "all illegal refugees coming in through the North". They also call for a halt to "monies given to refugees for cars, mobile phones" and the removal of refugees from "luxury flats and apartments".
Ms O'Donnell said she was concerned that there has been an unfortunate escalation in racially-motivated attacks and that people are becoming more brazen about making such inflammatory statements. These had to be countered by politicians as well as all members of society. It was important that public representatives did not pander to such sentiment.
While she had received much worse material, she said she chose to publicise this literature as "it's being distributed for political motives in my constituency to urge people not to vote for me".
Ms O'Donnell was speaking yesterday in advance of opening an art exhibition at the former Mosney holiday camp in Co Meath which now houses asylum-seekers. She said the photographs by artist Mr Douglas Ross and art works by Mosney residents "portray beautifully the human face of the asylum-seeker. Far too often, we hear refugees and their situation described as endlessly problematical with scant mention of their human story, their talents and their aspirations."