The internal squabbles of the EU seem petty in comparison with the calamities in the countries fled by many of the migrants who try to get to Europe.

The lack of political leadership on the refugee crisis at a European level (‘Refugee Crisis to worsen as borders are shut’, September 15) will be a source of dismay for people across the country who had demanded a humanitarian response to a humanitarian catastrophe.

Thousands of refugees yesterday streamed into Germany — many travelling through Austria from Hungary where they had been stranded against their will for days — while EU governments argue over how to respond.

ON THURSDAY evening, as he talked of “leadership” and how Ireland will accept “thousands [of migrants] over the coming months and years”, Environment Minister Alan Kelly was asked why it had taken a heartbreaking picture of a three-year-old boy lying dead on a beach for Government to act.