Sir, - I read that the Minister for Justice proposes to "simplify" procedures for dealing with requests for asylum. No doubt the Roman soldiers of his Department will be kept busy applying the Herod principle with enthusiasm. The Minister will, of course, have another Biblical precedent available when it comes to washing the blood of murdered deportees off his hands.
We will now, I see, be the only EU country without a statutory basis for dealing with refugees. Splendid! Let us continue the noble Irish practice of subscribing only to those EU programmes which funnel extraordinary amounts of money our way, while ignoring any and all avenues of contribution to the life and work and values of the Union. After all, why should we go out of our way for anyone? Nobody ever went out of their way for us when we sought asylum. There's an independent Ireland for you!
In view of the Minister's appetite for simplistic, bullying slogans, I have no doubt that his enlightened attitude to asylumseekers will be advertised as "The Bethlehem Principle". I congratulate him on his instinctive grasp of the spirit of Christmas. - Yours, etc.,
From Theo Dorgan
Merrion Square, Dublin 2.