AS THE general election approaches, many political parties are talking about how their policies will ensure that Ireland continues to develop successfully into the future and that challenges which face the country will be dealt with by them if they are voted into government.

At present in Ireland, there is a worrying lack of vision for Ireland's future and how we would like our society to develop in the future, and as a successful country of immigration. This is due in large part to the fact that there is a lack of agreed, long-term policies on immigration and integration issues, and a lack of coordination between government departments and agencies working on immigration and integration issues here.

Currently several government departments have a brief in relation to immigration and social inclusion policies, and each is responsible for deciding which rights, benefits and services it provides are to be made available to different categories of migrants and their families.

With so many departments and agencies involved, there is an urgent need for future work on immigration and integration issues to be coordinated and carried out in the context of a clear, national strategy that is working to a set of agreed goals and has been developed alongside planning in other areas such as health, education, infrastructure and housing.

For some time, the Immigrant Council of Ireland has been calling for a whole-ofgovernment approach to immigration to solve these problems. In particular, we have been calling for the establishment of a robust, highlevel, cross-departmental structure to coordinate the work of all government bodies that have a brief in the area of immigration and integration.

In order for such a structure to be effective, we believe it will need to be driven and coordinated by a minister who is specifically responsible for immigration and integration issues, has a seat at the cabinet table and who has sufficient financial and human resources to drive the process under a clearly defined strategy. A model similar to the Office of the Minister for Children could be considered, whereby staff from different government departments working on relevant issues are brought together to progress the work in a more coherent and effective way.

The Immigrant Council of Ireland is calling on all political parties to commit, in advance of the upcoming election, to promoting a whole-ofgovernment approach to immigration by setting up such a structure, led by a minister, which ensures that key stakeholders such as the social partners, civil society and migrants themselves can participate fully in its design, implementation and evaluation.

These changes are crucial if we are to rise to the challenge of immigration in a positive way, support the contribution and participation of migrants living and working among us, and ensure that Irish society develops in the best way possible into the future.

Sr Stanislaus Kennedy, Founder, Immigrant Council of Ireland

Time for an end to the cult of the gael
From Darren Mac an Phriora

AN excellent reason to vote for Fine Gael in the upcoming general election is that the party will ensure that there is an audit on Irish-language 'organisations' and groups.

The party have already called for one. I passionately believe that Glor na nGael and Conradh na Gaeilge in particular have become cults.

We should not discredit the fine organisations that are Comhdhail Naisiunta na Gaeilge, Foras na Gaeilge and Gael-Linn . . . along with the smaller organisations. Only the naive or innocent would believe that there is nothing seriously wrong with the self-styled Glor na nGael and Conradh na Gaeilge. Who are these people?

It makes me sick that Eamon O Cuiv still continues to fund organisations which put the language before people and which do not consider how their activities effect others negatively.

Like the Fianna Fail-Progressive Democrat government, it is time that these two archaic organisations were laid to rest.

Bring on the election!

Darren Mac an Phriora Corran Chaislean Cnucha, Caislean Cnucha Baile Atha Cliath

One island does not mean one nation
From Dick Keane

CATHLEEN Knowles McGuirk (Letters, 18 March), like many nationalists, is fixated with the notion that we will only become a fully fledged 'nation' when we achieve a 32-county Ireland.

The irrational nonsense that because Ireland is one island it should therefore be one nation is, in fact, the fundamental cause of the conflict on this island. When will we come to terms with the simple fact of life that this island has been shared by two separate and distinct tribes for the past 400 years?

When will we nationalists accept that unionists have exactly the same right to selfdetermination as we have?

We have every right to demand full equality and civil rights for our fellow nationalists in Northern Ireland. We even have every right to demand a redrawing of the border to accommodate the greatest possible number of people in the territory of their choice.

But, we have absolutely no right to demand a 'united Ireland' because this is a denial of unionists' right to self-determination.

A 'united Ireland' is simply not our call. It will only become an option if and when an overwhelming majority of Unionists request it. Until then Knowles McGuirk and her fellow travellers should try and wake up to reality and let Robert Emmet rest in peace.

Dick Keane 35 Silchester Park Glenageary Co Dublin

Seeing the light, but not the power
From Keith Nolan

F IT takes one minister to tax a standard light bulb, how many will it take to decide on the energy to power it? Answers on recycled paper please!

Keith Nolan Caldra House, Caldragh Carrick-on-Shannon Co Leitrim

Darwin's dissenters are evolving fast
From Conor O'Riordan

THE whole debate in recent times regarding intelligent design as opposed to evolution reminds me of a question often asked. If evolution is open to scrutiny, why are there not hundreds of mainstream scientists admitting it? To which there is a very good answer. There are!

Another 100 scientists have joined the ranks of scientists from around the world publicly stating their doubts about the adequacy of Darwin's theory of evolution. This pushes the total beyond 700.

They have put their names to a document titled 'A scientific dissent from Darwinism'. The preamble to the document reads: "We are skeptical of claims for the ability of random mutation and natural selection to account for the complexity of life.

Careful examination of the evidence for Darwinian theory should be encouraged." The document can be viewed online at www. dissentfromdarwin. org.

The list of signatories includes many professors or researchers at universities and research institutions such as Cambridge University, Moscow State University, Chitose Institute of Science & Technology in Japan, Ben-Gurion University in Israel, MIT, The Smithsonian and Princeton.

Here is a quote from one of its signatories.

"More scientists than ever before are now standing up and saying that it is time to rethink Darwin's Theory of Evolution in light of new scientific evidence that shows the theory is inadequate, " said John West, associate director of the Center for Science & Culture. Darwinists are busy making up holidays to turn Charles Darwin into a saint, even as the evidence supporting his theory crumbles and more scientific challenges to it emerge.

Conor O'Riordan 61 Beechwood Park, Pollerton, Carlow