Sir, - In your May 25th issue were two more letters purporting to find an inconsistency between Ireland's immigration policy and the experience of Irish emigrants. This apparent inconsistency exists only in the minds of Messrs Buchanan and Quinn.
America accepted great numbers of Irish up to the early years of this century because it suited her economically. There was a land to fill, factories to man, railroads to build and wars to fight - and men willing to work or die cheaply were needed. Morrison visas were not friendly gestures by the American government towards Ireland, recognising our need to find an outlet for the talents of our young people; they were a political accommodation, reflecting the power of the large number of Americans who still identify with this country. The Irish, in other words, were able to emigrate to America because Americans wanted them to.
Despite our own economic miracle of recent years, we continue to experience unacceptably high un- and under-employment. Happily, the Celtic Tiger is beginning to claw back some of her cubs who emigrated in previous years; but for many of our graduates emigration remains the best option for developing their careers. We simply don't require the human resources that immigration would provide.
There is therefore not only no inconsistency between the Irish experience as emigrants and Irish policy on immigration, they are two sides of the same coin. The Irish economy cannot quite yet support even the current population, let alone those Irish citizens obliged to emigrate in the past who still wish to return.
Neither is there a powerful sentimental bloc in favour of immigration. There is simply no equivalent of the Irish-American lobby here. For immigrants to be truly welcomed there would have to be a economic need for them, and there isn't.
The reasons for a welcoming immigration policy must then be humanitarian. It clearly benefits those admitted, but the short-term effect on the countries they came from is negligible and the long-term effect non-existent. In fact, to the extent that they had skills or talents useful here, their loss to their home countries would hamper rather than promote development. Immigration is not a solution to the underlying problems. If we are to spend the money, it would be more productively spent on international development aid, even if the satisfaction we derive is less personal and immediate.
I would agree with Mr. Quinn on one point: his belief that racialism is at the centre of the issue. To me, immigration makes so little sense for Ireland - on either selfish or humanitarian grounds - that the only possible reason for favouring it would be to prove that we are not racist. The importance of proving that, of course, increases with the extent to which we suspect that we are. - Yours, etc., William Hunt,
Harold's Cross,
Dublin 6W.