Compassion plus control would obviate this dangerous referendum

A FIANNA FÁIL candidate in the local elections told me an interesting story when I asked him about the citizenship referendum.

While out putting up posters, he was approached by a man on a motorcycle who wanted to know "what FF was going to do about the f***ing n**gers".

The candidate played for time to see what was bothering the fellow. Nothing coherent emerged. Then the motorcyclist announced that since Fianna Fáil was going to do nothing about the "f***ing n**gers", he would vote for Sinn Féin instead.

The FF man felt conflicted. He would have liked to burst the man's bubble by observing that Sinn Féin was urging a 'no' vote in the referendum a rather permissive stance on immigration which would not go down well with motorcycle man. But if he said that, would he be suggesting that the Government was anti-immigration? Since he prefers to see the referendum as a regulatory, common-sense initiative, he kept quiet.

This incident typifies Sinn Féin and their support base, he feels. Left-wing and politically correct on the surface. Reactionary and racist on the ground. But is this just a Sinn Féin problem? While some commentators see the decline in support for mainstream parties as indicative of public frustration with political corruption, maybe something more negative is at work. Could the rise in support for independents, Sinn Féin and other protest parties be a response to, among other things, immigration by those who feel marginalised by the new Irish? Having tracked the local election campaign in North Dublin, an area with particularly large numbers of non-nationals, it is impossible to be in any doubt about the extent of the begrudgery.

"I'm not racist, but..." heralds many a doorstep rant to canvassers. Some of the complaints come from the poor, or relatively poor, who worry that immigrants are getting ahead of them in the queue for housing, welfare and health services. In these cases, responsible politicians try to strike a note of equality, by suggesting that the old Irish shouldn't have to compete with the new Irish for assistance from the State. It gets harder to sympathise when you have struggled past two gleaming 04-registered cars on the driveway, only to get an earful on how immigrants are getting everything straight into their hand, while the unfortunate constituent has to drive at rush-hour and work long hours just to get by in life.

In such a climate the Government should have thought twice about staging the citizenship referendum so hastily.

As Prof William Binchy argues, "even if not the intent of its proponents, it surely risks legitimising negative attitudes towards foreigners at a time when social policy should be reminding us of our common humanity and dignity."

At one level, the referendum makes perfect sense. Before 1998, the position was that anybody born on the island of Ireland was entitled to citizenship. That situation was changeable by legislation at any time.

Then the Good Friday Agreement led to the enshrinement of this entitlement in the constitution. Because we are unable to regulate who gets into Northern Ireland, and because there is a common travel area between Britain and Ireland, we find ourselves exposed.

Citizenship of Ireland means citizenship of the European Union, and Ireland becomes the potential gateway to EU citizenship for thousands of hopefuls worldwide.

And word is getting around. The Government was challenged for trying to draw the maternity hospitals into the debate, but letters from the masters of these hospitals and notes of meetings kept by Government officials indicated support for a tightening of immigration controls.

What Minister McDowell calls 'citizenship tourism', ie non-nationals arriving in Ireland late in pregnancy solely for the purpose of giving birth to children here, is adding to the pressure on Dublin's maternity hospitals.

But targeting those who use the facilities of a maternity hospital is wrong. For one thing, some of our maternity hospitals are already a disgrace. With its cramped facilities and near total lack of privacy, Holles Street presents expectant mothers with an experience similar to a week in Mountjoy men's prison. There's no point blaming immigrants for that.

What's more, to argue that a crisis is 'waiting to happen' with non-nationals arriving here in a late stage of pregnancy seems heartless if it fails to acknowledge the desperation behind these journeys. The use of words such as 'citizenship tourism' suggests people are trying to access Ireland and the EU out of some kind of lifestyle choice.

In fact, they are trying to escape poverty.

THE Government should have tried to justify this referendum on grounds of fairness. Is it really a good idea that you can get citizenship for your child, and possibly residency for yourself, by touching down in Ireland and having a baby as soon as possible? Surely such a policy favours the relatively well-off over the extremely poor. By definition, women of child-bearing age who can get the resources to travel to Ireland come first in the queue.

In order to be justified in making this point we would need a proper channel for immigration into Ireland. A system which allowed our embassies abroad to meet and vet people; which gave financial support to a certain number of hard cases; which followed up on people's needs when they came here that would be a humane approach.

Instead, our acceptance of immigrants is grudging, and the Government's proposal is quick-fix, and the overall message is that immigrants are a problem.

We have a rushed constitutional amendment, no green paper, no consideration of the issue by the all-party committee on the constitution and no consultation with Northern Ireland's parties about the implications of unravelling a portion of the Good Friday Agreement. The wording of the referendum is so broad that it would not prevent politicians from legislating for something more racist or discriminatory in the future. And it is no argument to say that Irish legislators wouldn't do that kind of thing. On something as fundamental as citizenship, limitations on constitutional protection should be kept to a minimum.

It would be interesting to know how much pressure has come from other European governments to mount this referendum. The law of Ireland is the source of a European 'problem' from which Ireland, ironically, has managed to disentangle itself.

Last week's preliminary opinion in the Chen case, if it is to be followed by the European Court of Justice, would give a Chinese woman an entitlement to reside in the EU on the basis that her child is an Irish citizen. But such a person might be deported from here because of a decision by our own Supreme Court in January 2003.

According to opinion polls the referendum will pass comfortably. But they can't tell us why this vote was brought on so quickly, or what impact the campaign is having on public opinion towards immigrants. What we do know is that none of this will alleviate the plight that exists beyond our shores.