Madam, - The results of the Irish Times/TNS mrbi poll in yesterday's edition make sobering reading. However it is difficult to square the majority view that the presence of non-national workers is good for Irish society with the negativity about these same workers' effect on the jobs, pay and conditions of Irish workers.
It seems that inward migration is "good" as long as it doesn't affect Irish prosperity. The irony is that our current economic wellbeing would not have been possible without the free movement of these EU workers, who have every right to travel and work freely.
It is quite unlikely that the majority of the 1,000 people polled have had their jobs, pay and working conditions badly affected by the presence of the new EU nationals, yet they are convinced that this is happening in the rest of the economy. The evidence on which these views are based rest most probably on the "anecdotal evidence" being bandied around by politicians, the net effect of which only increases fears that Irish living standards are being undermined.
The call for "work permits' espoused by Labour leader Pat Rabbitte has obviously been a successful political strategy. Already other opportunist politicians have joined up to draw votes from a fearful electorate.
Politicians should be leading from the front - not feeding perceptions based on anecdotal evidence but stressing the good effects that inward EU immigration have had on Irish life.
If we have such a backlash against non-Irish EU nationals in the good times what will happen when Irish growth rates begin to level off? - Yours, etc,
BRENDAN BUTLER , Swords, Co Dublin.
Madam, - What has prosperity done to us? Seventy-eight per cent of us apparently feel that fellow members of the EU should require work permits The Irish Times, January 23rd). Can you imagine the outrage we would have felt had such a poll result appeared in a German, French or Dutch newspaper 25 years ago?
As a returned emigrant, all I can do is shake my head and think: How very, very sad. - Yours, etc,
PETER BUCHANAN, Laragh, Co Wicklow.