Sir, - Brendan Howlin, deputy leader of the Labour Party, and others are suggesting we "reject the appalling prospect of forced deportations" and grant an amnesty to asylum-seekers. Firstly, the asylum process is a bargain and is offered only on the basis of that bargain. The bargain is: we allow in anyone who says "asylum". Those who pass, stay; those who fail, go. On what authority would any administration say "we are unilaterally ceding what is due to the receiving country as our part of the bargain". It is nothing short of treachery to the electorate.
Brendan Howlin, of course, is wrong when he says "the Irish people" have expressed unease at deporting people who have been here for "long periods". A vocal and organised minority is not "the Irish people" who, like people everywhere, resent an unsought and intrusive demographic in their midst. Remember, a failed asylum-seeker is someone who has tried it on and it hasn't worked. The fact that they do so in such numbers is the cause of the delay. The fault is theirs, not ours.
Secondly, could I remind Brendan Howlin, and others of his mindset, that when an Irish person has spent a year or two abroad we consider that that constitutes a plus in their lives; a chance to experience another country's culture, to improve their language skills, broaden their life experience etc. We expect them to wave goodbye to that country with gratitude.
Why is it that, instead of expecting a grateful wave from failed asylum-seekers who have received the same plus, we are supposed to apologise for allowing them that time in our country and say "no, stay forever"? - Yours, etc.,
Aine Ni Chonaill, PRO, Immigration Control Platform, PO Box 6469, Dublin 2.