Madam, - There is something contradictory about the letter of Chris Andrews TD ("Talking about immigration", July 18th). He points to the examples of Canadian and Australian multiculturalism contrasted with the French policy of integration, noting that France suffered serious race riots in 2005.
Despite the fact that Australia and Canada have had no comparable riots, he insists that integration is still his preferred solution to the problem of immigration!
Surely, if France is his prime example of a country with a strong integration policy, then that is a policy we should shun.
My own opinion is that multiculturalism is seriously misunderstood by its critics, and even by some of its proponents.
What passes for multiculturalism is often "plural monoculturalism" founded on the belief that everyone is born into a straitjacket called "culture".
Both this twisted multiculturalism and integration suffer from a fundamental weakness - they deny the right to form any sort of hybrid or cosmopolitan way of life which is the real strength of a diverse society.
It is surprising that no side of this debate has looked to the Irish diaspora to investigate how the Irish adapted to life in alien societies like the United States and Australia.
For example, there are things about the United States that make integration easy.
There is a process for gaining citizenship, formal but simple, with an emphasis on individual rights and a conscious choice to uphold the laws and the Constitution on the part of the newcomer. These are things which we might consider introducing here.
I question Mr Andrews's solution of regulating "common customs and practices. . . in public places. . . to create a sense of national unity".
This smacks of Norman Tebbit's notorious "cricket test" which questioned the loyalty of citizens of West Indian descent if they did not support England instead of their ancestral islands.
Is Mr Andrews suggesting something similar when Ireland play Poland or Nigeria at soccer? Better, I think, to support individual human and civil rights where they do not interfere with those of another, rather than enter a cultural minefield in legislating what is publicly acceptable. - Yours, etc,
TOBY JOYCE, Balreask Manor, Navan.