All across Europe, horrified viewers have watched the French riots. Many European countries have already experienced unrest and violence.
Belgium, too, had its own copycat arson attacks. In the past fortnight the first anniversary was marked in the Netherlands of the murder of film-maker Theo Van Gogh by an Islamic extremist.
In Britain, Queen Elizabeth and Tony Blair recently met the families of the 52 victims of the London bombings.
It all seems very remote from little Ireland. Such terrible events could never happen here. Or could they? Aggressively secular France with its history of colonisation could hardly be more different to Ireland.
While Ireland has only recently become a destination for immigrants, France has received waves of immigrants for generations. The French model of dealing with them relied heavily on the notion that the primary relationship is between the citizen and the state.
The French are proud of the radical equality of each citizen before the law, an equality that rests on the assumption that all differences in religion and ethnicity will be confined to the private domain. France does not even collect statistics on religion or ethnicity. "We are all French."
The French were inclined to sneer at the British model of multiculturalism, which they believed led to ghettoes. However, they appeared to ignore the fact that many of their own suburbs were no-go areas where the police were afraid to venture and gangs ruled.
Assimilation as a model failed. It may have worked reasonably well for Poles and Italians who immigrated to France in the 1920s, but did not work for the people who came to France from former colonies in the 1950s.
This later group were expected to become part of the dominant culture, and for many of them, it was an impossible demand. The situation was rendered even more volatile when successive generations experienced unequal opportunities and poverty.
If France has any relevance for Ireland, it is perhaps as a sobering example of what can happen when genuine efforts are not made to integrate immigrants.
We are at the very beginning of a process that France has been struggling with for decades. If assimilation does not work, France might claim that British multiculturalism does not seem to be so hot, either.
In October, in the poorest area of Birmingham, people of Afro-Caribbean background clashed with young Asians whose parents came mainly from Pakistan and India.
Immigration is now a reality in Ireland. We need foreign workers. We have a moral obligation to accept refugees. Such people deserve dignity and respect.
There is ample anecdotal evidence that the minimum wage laws are being flouted by employers of non-nationals. Similarly, there could have been a tragic end to the story of the Latvian periwinkle pickers who were taken by lifeboat from an island where they had apparently been left stranded.
Just like the Irish, who always planned to return home but often were unable to do so, many immigrants will settle here permanently. How will we help them to integrate? Perhaps a more pertinent question might be, into what culture do we want them to integrate? Piaras MacÉinrí, a long-time supporter of immigrants, raised this question in a letter to this newspaper (September 26th).
He asked, "What is our 'Irish way of life?' Binge-drinking on a Friday night? Gay-bashing? Racism towards Travellers? Patriarchy and sexism? Who is to decide and police what is acceptable as part of our 'Irish way of life'?" Yet Piaras MacÉinrí would be the first to accept that an extreme form of multiculturalism, where every element of every culture is deemed equally valuable, is impossible. There have to be core values, as well as diversity, for any society to function.
How do we address the question of what those core values should be? It is easy to decide that, say, female genital mutilation could never be acceptable. Is hospitality a core value, or is that Fáilte Ireland blather?
Ireland of the welcomes, but only if you are white, English-speaking and a highly skilled worker? What about things that seem much more trivial? In some cultures maintaining eye contact is seen as aggressive.
In Ireland the inability to meet someone's eyes is considered evasive, to the extent that some Irish young people of my acquaintance have worked long and hard on the art form of looking you straight in the eye while telling you lies. Where exactly do we discuss the vital questions regarding culture and immigration, questions that, if fudged, can have tragic consequences for generations down the line?
Dr Linda Dennard teaches a course in UCC for asylum seekers and migrants, called an Introduction to Irish Politics. Quite often, it segues into a discussion of what it means to be Irish, and how a newcomer can adapt to Irish culture without compromising his or her culture of origin. Many people taking the course are surprised at the accessibility of Irish elected representatives. Our muchderided clientilist system gives us an advantage over France, where politicians tend to be much more remote from the lives of ordinary people. It is hard to imagine Irish politicians being as much in denial as many French politicians appeared to be. Linda Dennard, along with her UCC colleague Aodh Quinlivan, is part of the Civic Space Project.
It aims to give a space for creative discussion of serious issues. Auditions are currently under way for a play, The Inconstant River, written by Dr Dennard. In the play, the memories of an elderly Irish woman weave with those of recent immigrants to Ireland.
The complex relationships of those who leave a land, and those who stay are examined. The play will be staged next February, and the aim is for the audience to interact with the characters after the performance, in a way that is different to the often polarising and sterile nature of discussions about immigration.
Such space for discussion is badly needed. Those opposed in principle to immigration are often blind to the real opportunities it presents. Those of us who think that immigration is a good thing, are often unwilling to look at the real difficulties associated with it.
However, blindness and wishful thinking are follies no country can afford, as the angry flames across France testify.