Recently, the naval service took possession of two ships to work on day-long surveillance patrols in the Irish Sea and off the south east coast.
The naval service does need suitable new ships to undertake its important duties, but these were not ‘new ships’. They were secondhand ships originally built for the New Zealand navy, However, they were found to be unsuitable for use on the high seas or rough sea conditions, and were confined to inshore duties only. If these ships were a mistake for the New Zealand navy then their purchase was arguably a mistake by the Irish Government.
Commodore Michael Malone seemed to acknowledge the limitations of these ships when he said they will “enhance the patrol profile of the naval service on the east and south east coast”. The most important duties and operations of the naval service are off the north-west, west, and south-west coasts. It is not just a matter of the naval service returning to “its mandated number of hulls”. These ships are not “a step forward in capability”.
The report said these ships “will also be available for maritime rescue operations” yet, such operations most often occur in difficult weather and sea conditions. Lieutenant General Seán Clancy, when the ships were ceremonially handed over for transport to Ireland in March, said these ships “will allow the naval service to continue to modernise and tackle the dynamic and ever-changing maritime environment that we operate in 365 days a year”. This is a questionable statement.
Edward Horgan
Castletroy
Limerick
Men in Magowna should be valued
As a resident of Clare, I am deeply saddened by the events in Inch. As a child, I was brought up in England and quickly got to know what it was like to be at the receiving end of negative stereotyping. It taught me to never, ever, treat others in the same way.
The men who have arrived at the Magowna House hotel are somebody’s sons, brothers, husbands, fathers. They may have trades and professions that would enhance the county.
Most of all they are fleeing from trauma which most of us are lucky enough to find unimaginable. They need our help and protection.
Of course Magowna is unsuitable: There are no services there but this is as true for women and families as it is for men.
Of course there should have been prior consultation, but the people are here now and the people of Ireland have shown, in other places, the genius of community spirit on coming up with practical solutions for the problems that can also benefit the local community.
Why not turn this energy away from mere protest and start thinking up ways to integrate and value these people?
Anne Clune
Miltown Malbay
Co Clare
Christians should extend a welcome
In a country in which the large proportion of its citizens claim to be Christian it is surprising that the social teaching of Jesus of Nazareth is contradicted by many of his followers when it comes to accepting asylum seekers.
The criteria laid down by Jesus for entering the kingdom are stark and clear.
The rejection of the foreigner is one such criterion: “I was a foreigner and you failed to extend hospitality to me.”
As politicians have failed to persuade communities around the country to accept asylum seekers seeking safety it is now the duty of Christian leaders to be courageous enough to take the side of those dispossessed.
Brendan Butler
Drumcondra
Dublin 9
A right to know who’s moving in
Local communities have the right to know who moves into their areas. People make sacrifices to live in the countryside for the peace and quiet as well as privacy. Our authorities need to respect this and the wishes of the Irish people.
Barry Tynan
Aghada
Co Cork
Refugees could get to work in localities
I understand that Ireland has an obligation to house a certain quota of refugees, but their comfort and safety, plus the availability of services, are necessary considerations in the State deciding where these people will live. I have lived in a community that took in such refugees and although they were safe and well fed there was nothing for them to do in the locality. Taxis being provided to bring them to a larger centre did not sit well with locals. If they were allowed to work locally or even volunteer I think for everybody’s sake it would go down better at the moment as there is a big labour shortage on farms and in business, in general.
Mary Ryan
Co Laois
Issuing visas to economic migrants
I read with increasing disbelief your report of Integration Minister’s Roderic O’Gorman’s proposal for thousands of low skill visas to be issued so that there is no conflation with the asylum process — ‘ O’Gorman: Thousands more visas could be awarded to lower-skilled economic migrants’ (Irish Examiner, online, May 21). Has the penny finally dropped with him that most of our international protection applicants are here for work rather than fleeing persecution and thus clogging up the asylum process for genuine applicants?
I should add that I worked in the area for many years before retirement and in my experience the entire body politic has never taken the area of asylum seriously (bar former minister Michael McDowell who correctly held a referendum in 2004 when the Irish Born Child phenomenon was at its peak). The current asylum shambles I largely attribute to O’Gormans advertising the the ending of direct provision with own door accommodation (did he ever hear of pull factors) and Minister McEntee’s ill thought-out amnesty last year for those over two years in the asylum process.
For all the political hand wringing on accommodating people (who I do not blame for coming here given the mess the State has created for itself), neither government or opposition seem willing to face the realities of asylum. In a nutshell the current overwhelmed process will take years to hear interviews and appeals of the 14,000 backlog, never mind new applicants while everyone is silent on what happens to the two out of three that fail the process. At present persons issued with a deportation order are supposed to remove themselves — which says it all.
Michael Flynn
North Bayside
Dublin 13
Sinn Féin grows as all-inclusive party
The Sinn Féin gains in the Northern Ireland council elections is because of their progressive policies, their urgency in returning to Stormont (if only we could), and their strides made towards an all-inclusive party. The DUP are losing the moral high-ground by using the NI Protocol as an excuse in delaying a return to power sharing and their antiquated policies due to their supposed adherence to Biblical scripture (although once they condemn usury, in all its guises, then I’ll believe their old fluff). Unionists must decide whether to maintain their love affair with a Great Britain that wants out of the relationship (let’s face it, they never took it seriously) or to accept a state encompassing the shores of Ireland, but one where the Irish language isn’t imposed on them.
The last time I was in Dublin everything was in English and everybody spoke English. Unionists don’t want the Irish tricolour flying from every public building and lamppost. But I’ve taken buses from Belfast to Killarney and back again, and I didn’t see one tricolour.
We don’t want a situation where “them ’uns” from down South are “coming up and taking our jobs and houses”. This is something they’ve had the right to do for decades and we can do the same down there. But I think most people prefer to be near family and friends and stay around what is familiar to them.
Lastly, we could have a cultural space where the Orange Order can still parade and practise, as they still do in Cavan, Monaghan, and Donegal.
Louis Shawcross
Hillsborough
Co Down
Praise for O’Gara
Heartiest congrats to Ronan O’Gara and the La Rochelle team on their great win last Saturday. What a man, what a player, and now, what a coach. It is hard to win one Heineken Cup but to retain it says it all. As Cork people, we should all be so proud of him.
John Flavin
Carrigrohane,
Cork
