The real issue

I HAVE to take issue with Seamus Lynch’s interpretation of the recent anti-racist campaign (Irish Examiner letters, Dec 28). He gave the example of an Irish girl holding up her ID card working in Bahrain.

Firstly, she was a totally legal immigrant and, secondly, she was probably a nurse who couldn’t get a wage decent enough for her to aspire to the normal things in life in Ireland, like buying a house. What irks many here is not so much that we have immigrant labour, but that we consistently refuse to pay a decent wage to our own workers.

There is a lot of evidence to suggest that many employed in the ‘low wage’ sector are in fact working illegally and that Irish workers are being displaced as a result. It’s not that employers can’t find Irish staff - they’re just not prepared to pay them.

The real issue is not racism. It is when will we ensure that our own people are paid a decent wage, and should we pursue economic growth beyond the ability of our people to support it?

Richard Ashton,

Gas Yard Lane,

Malahide,

Co Dublin.