AIDAN WALSH,
Madam, - John Sheedy (November 8th) supports Fintan O'Toole's accusation (Opinion, November 5th) that the Minister for Justice has "burying his better instincts" in relation to asylum-seekers since he took office. Mr O'Toole quoted Mr McDowell from 1998, about the time he exposed the disgraceful treatment of asylum seekers: "Now is the time for coolness and kindness. . .What is of concern is not the issue but the values which we bring to bear on it."
Our asylum laws divide the world into those who can live and work here and those who cannot. That is wrong but that is the way that Irish people seem to want it. Given this bad start, humanity, coolness and kindness require that we apply those laws consistently.
If we condemn making people queue in the lashing rain, we must also condemn any attempt to apply our asylum laws on an ad hoc or inconsistent basis. It seems to me that the Minister's better instincts are still intact and above ground. - Your, etc.,
AIDAN WALSH, Hollybank Avenue, Ranelagh, Dublin 6.