Madam, - As an immigrant who has lived in Ireland for nearly four decades I get the impression that some Irish people, including politicians, truly believe that America ought to consider the case of the Irish illegals in a separate, special category and enable them to gain legal status and American citizenship without any unnecessary barriers.
"America owes it to the Irish" - that is what some truly believe. Remember Mary Harney's remarks about Ireland being closer to Boston than Berlin! Therefore, I am not one bit surprised by the recent remarks of Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern about the situation of the Irish illegals in America being different from the Afghans seeking asylum in Ireland.
Aside from the rights and wrongs of the Afghans' case, and the fairness and transparency of the Irish asylum process so praised and boasted about by prominent figures in Ireland, I fail to understand how one group of "illegal" people - read Irish - seeking legal status or citizenship in America or elsewhere can be different from another similar group in Ireland. I am sad that many asylum seekers and/or illegal immigrants, here in Ireland do not have any one as powerful as Mr Ahern from their own native lands to make a case for them. The reasons are self-evident.
I arrived here as a legal immigrant in 1967 and have integrated and proudly contributed to this nation of mine - I am a naturalised Irish citizen. But how can I be content and comfortable in my own country when I see and hear of the difficulties experienced by my fellow human beings from various parts of the world who have arrived here to seek a better life, just like the Irish who travelled to the US in the recent past, the 1980s in particular?
As Jim Casey (May 29th) pointed out, the illegal Irish in the US can return to their native land at any time and enjoy a prosperous life - aren't we a rich, democratic nation? All is grand here in Ireland for any Irish emigrant who wishes to return home. That is not the case for many illegal immigrants/asylum seekers in Ireland and a number of other Western countries.
I know that Ireland cannot be expected to have an open-door policy for everyone who wishes to come here and seek asylum and citizenship. However, we can surely do something speedily for those who have courageously made it to our shores and find themselves in a limbo.
As for the Irish illegals in America, I wish them every success with gaining legal status and US citizenship if they so wish, because I know the pain of separation and the difficulties experienced by the families of some Irish people who chose to stay illegally in the US. An emigrant's or immigrant's life is never all that easy - and more so when he or she happens to be in another state illegally. - Yours, etc,
MARY TOOMEY, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co Dublin.