KEVIN RAFTER's suggestion (News, 10 September ) that "an urgent national debate is required over the implications of the demographic changes of the last decade, " should now be acted upon. It is doubly required so as to to have the electorate's mind clear on this issue coming into a general election.
Especially disturbing are the results of last week's Sunday Tribune/IMS Millward Brown survey where 60% of respondents strongly blame the growing number of nonnationals in the country for the loss of "traditional Irish culture and values." This finding is a bizarre response, as it scapegoats the presence of non-nationals, the majority of whom are traditional Polish Catholics whose values largely concur with traditional Irish values. I suggest that the real reason for the loss of traditional Irish values has been the response of so many Irish people to the Celtic Tiger era where greed, acquisitiveness and a grab-all mentality has taken over.
On the contrary, this Irish greed may have been the reason many EU citizens of Eastern Europe have been forced to emigrate due to the rising costs of their native properties driven up by the acquisitive Irish looking for a quick buck. As Bulgaria gets ready for entry to the EU, the property pages abound with bargains in Bulgaria for Irish investors, whose presence there is not for the good of the Bulgarian economy, but for Irish gain and profit at the expense of the native population.
Let us be honest and fair when we debate immigration and recognise that the Irish people have gained immensely from the presence of people of other nationalities from an economic, social and a cultural viewpoint.
Brendan Butler, 45 The Moorings, Malahide, Co Dublin.
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