Sir, – I read and listen with dismay to an ever-growing number of challenges to the housing of asylum seekers and other migrants.
One emerging pattern seems to be along the following lines: it begins with a Government announcement or leaked information about housing migrants in a named location; next comes some local resistance citing a lack of consultation; this is frequently followed by an argument as to when the consultation took place and the nature of that consultation.
I am writing here as somebody who passionately believes that caring for and sheltering asylum seekers and migrants is the right thing to do. Here in Ireland we have done a lot in this area in recent years but I also believe we have the capacity to do much more and that the willingness to do more is there, given an inclusive and respectful approach.
The term “consultation” seems to have different meaning for different players. At worst, it seems that the so-called consultation takes place after the decision has been made without any involvement of those who are now being “consulted”.
At present, there seems to be no structure in place so that the involvement of communities in dealing with issues such as the housing of migrants might be meaningful. Such a structure did exist in the recent past. It was called the Community Development Programme (CDP) and involved the communities working hand in hand with the Government with a strong emphasis on prioritising local issues for which significant local energy is already in evidence. This was a very successful programme during the period 1990 to 2010, but was closed by Government, despite resistance from the communities and several positive evaluations. The reasons for this Government action are beyond the scope of this letter but deserve analysis in a separate forum.
I have little doubt that there is an abundance of goodwill in communities towards the plight of migrants, and it is there to be harvested. However, in the absence of a structure such as the CDP, we are likely to experience more of the same distrust to the detriment of caring for less advantaged people. Migrants are only one such cohort.
I am not proposing this approach as a short-term solution to the problems we are now experiencing but rather as one that will make a significant difference in the medium term and as one that needs to be expanded for a more desirable future. – Yours, etc,
JA O’GRADY,
Dublin 6W.