Here as a right

I want to make a few points about the letter entitled “Asylum: where will it all end?”

I feel Mr Neville’s letter was irresponsible and helped widen the cultural divide that is already all too evident in Irish society.

I agree that our Government’s refugee policies are flawed (like so many other Government policies), but this doesn’t alter the fact that this is a humanitarian issue. Asylum seekers deserve to live with the same respect and dignity as you and I. Ireland is a signatory to the UN convention on the status of refugees, which states that everyone has the fundamental right to freedom and to seek asylum from persecution.

I’m sure we all have friends or family living or working abroad. In Ireland we remember all too well our history of emigration and the racism our emigrants had to endure.

Mr Neville says “our Government must address its primary sovereign duty to protect our borders.” What does he want to protect our borders against? Innocent men, women and children fleeing starvation and persecution?

I agree we need to protect ourselves. Maybe we should focus on the use of Shannon as a US port of war and the fact these planes carry weapons of mass destruction. Here surely is a recipe for the creation of a refugee crisis on a global scale .

Jonathan O’Shea,

32, Kilmoney Heights,

Carrigaline,

Co Cork.