A chara, - I felt that the headline "Gloves off as asylum-seekers rejected" (The Irish Times, April 29th) was somewhat unfair to the people of Corofin. Also, the comment in Nuala Haughey's report that Corofin was "a village where even Irish non-locals are casually referred to as outsiders" might conjure up an image of a petty, narrow-minded village. This is not a true reflection of Corofin, where many local community leaders hail from every corner of the country and society is in the main, open, tolerant and pluralist.
It is not true that asylum-seekers were rejected at the Department of Justice information meeting as there were many suggestions as to how asylum-seekers could be accommodated in the village and integrated into village life.
Yes, at times at the meeting there was also the face of prejudice and I do not want to idealise Corofin society to pretend that it wasn't there. But the overall reaction in Corofin to the proposal should be shown in a balanced way.
In my view it is now absolutely essential that the Government engage in an education programme for adults (no need for more education packs for primary schools, as it's not the children who have a problem) which would remind Irish people about our own past and in particular about how so many Irish refugees fled across the Atlantic in the 19th century escaping from famine, oppression and eviction and in many cases faced signs which informed them that no Irish need apply. They also faced racial abuse and were frequently described as a filthy, disease-ridden people. A few extracts from American and British newspapers of the mid- and late-19th century would be well worth highlighting through our own national media.
As a nation our memory has at times tended to be both short and selective and our cheers for Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King sometimes appear to have been made in the knowledge that the causes that they represented were at a far remove from our shores.
When Orange Lodges are made welcome in Dublin, the Ancient Order of Hibernians is welcomed into Portadown and asylum-seekers are treated graciously throughout Ireland, then and only then can we boast of a tolerant and mature society. Until then we must remember that expressed or felt racism says much more about what we think of ourselves rather than what we think of others. - Is mise,
Declan Kelleher, Kilnaboy, Corofin, Co Clare.