Sir, - Having been so impressed a week or two ago by the apparent honesty of the Taoiseach when he was interviewed here on Australian television on matters concerning Northern Ireland, I was more than surprised to read that, upon his return to Dublin, he immediately recommended the efficacy of our detention centres as a way to deal with unwanted aliens.
Is he not aware that the Australian detention centres are the subject of much controversy both within Australia and at the United Nations? Has he not heard about the refugees who were sent home to face death or imprisonment in Africa and Asia? Many Australians are deeply ashamed of our government's policy towards the "boat people"; and the reports that come out of our detention centres are a source of national embarrassment to many.
I have long suspected that the level of racial hatred in Ireland was very high, but until recently the absence of suitable foreign immigrants at whom to direct that hatred has meant that racism has not been a visible problem. Perhaps sectarian hatred has served all along as a substitute outlet for innate racism. For a country that has relied so heavily on the generous immigration policies of so many other nations it is indeed sad to see that, now that your economic condition has changed for the better, your government cannot find the reciprocal decency to extend a hand of friendship to your fellow Europeans in dire need. - Yours, etc., John Foss,
Bellevue Hill, Sydney, Australia.