Latvians thank Irish for ‘help and support’

THE Latvian Government has thanked the Irish people for their help and sympathy following the deaths of four Latvians in a road accident earlier this year.

Latvian Foreign Minister Artis Pabriks handed the letter to Foreign Minister Dermot Ahern at an EU meeting in Luxembourg.

In the letter, Mr Pabriks acknowledged that the tragedy in Donegal on February 18 and other incidents had been extensively covered by the media in both Ireland and Latvia.

“Both this and other events saddened not only their countrymen in Latvia but also many Irish families and organisations who rushed to render a helping hand with compassion, sympathy and unselfishness.

“On behalf of the people of Latvia and on my own behalf, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to you and to the Irish people and all the Irish organisations and institutions for the support, help and sympathy you gave the families of those who lost their lives or were injured in this tragic event,” the letter read.

“It is a true acknowledgement of the close and friendly ties shared by our nations,” the letter added.

Mr Pabriks, who is also an expert on immigration and integration, hopes to visit Ireland shortly to get a better picture of reports of crime and drink driving among his citizens in this country.

Mr Ahern had discussions with Mr Pabriks about the problems on a number of occasions.

They are considering what steps to take, including the possibility of sending Latvian police to Ireland.

There are up to 50,000 Latvians among the 160,000 workers from the EU’s new member states living in Ireland at present.

A disproportionate number of them have been implicated in crime, ranging from murders to extortion and gang warfare among Latvian workers.

Gardaí say that about a fifth of road deaths in the last year on Irish roads involved eastern Europeans and a large number of these were Latvians.