The ideological poles of "toxic liberalism" and "toxic illiberalism" must not be allowed to frame Ireland's debate on immigration, according to the Minister of State for Integration, Conor Lenihan.
He said the country had already pursued a "middle way" between European and American approaches to social and economic policy. A similar strategy was possible with migration policy, "by having a mid-way point between the excesses of the multicultural model and the excesses of the assimilationist model".
"It is vital that the debate in Ireland is not hemmed in by what I would call the toxic liberal position and the toxic illiberal position with regard to migration," he said.
Mr Lenihan believed there was determination in Government to "get things right" on immigration. "We have a strategic, political, economic and reputational interest in getting migration right, where so many other countries have not got it right. It's not beyond us to do this and get it right."
The Minister was speaking yesterday at a research fair organised by the Trinity Immigration Initiative at Trinity College Dublin. The event assembled academics, NGOs, migrant groups and others to present and share research in the area.
The provost of Trinity College, Prof John Hegarty, told the opening session that immigration was "well on the way to being the top social issue for this country".
"The choices and decisions that we make today are going to determine the future of this society for generations," he said.
There was a gap in the information necessary to guide policy and planning on immigration, he warned.
"We are at a very critical point. We have a narrow window of opportunity in which to plan and maximise the benefits of immigration and also we have an opportunity to minimise the risks. It is vital that we gather good, sound, authoritative evidence and data on the experiences of immigrants."
A discussion on migration and the labour market heard that only 14 per cent of immigrants here were estimated to belong to a trade union.
David Joyce, of Ictu, said the trade union movement was conscious that this posed huge challenges and suggested that an imaginative approach would be needed to attract more newcomers. He added that the unions had a positive role to play in integrating migrants.
A session on linguistic issues heard that more than 200 languages are used in Ireland today, and the most commonly spoken foreign languages are Polish, Lithuanian, Mandarin, Spanish and Russian.
A wide and elaborate linguistic infrastructure has developed around the Polish community, with more than 15 Polish-language publications or websites operating here and a network of schools, shops, bars and religious groups already established.
However, Ewelina Debaene, of Trinity College Dublin, noted that the existence of these Polish-speaking networks could lead to a "parallel society" that hindered integration with the host culture.
