‘There’s no backdoor into this country’

“They [the Roma] are a huge social problem in Romania. That’s Romania’s problem, not Ireland’s problem. There is a front door into this country. There isn’t a back door.”

It sounded like Michael McDowell: the blunt statement, combined with the orator’s skill for encapsulating a policy position in a neat image [the doors reference].

In fact, it was Mr McDowell’s successor as justice minister, Brian Lenihan, who made the statement during an appearance on RTÉ’s Questions & Answers.