A "national examination of conscience" in light of the weekend tragedy in Wexford was called for yesterday by the Catholic Bishop of Ferns, Dr Brendan Comiskey.
Dr Comiskey said he agreed with the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, that anyone who engaged in human trafficking should be "sought out and punished". People had to be extremely desperate to risk their lives by getting into containers being loaded on to ships, and this suggested there were "a lot of very genuine asylum-seekers".
Irish people had been welcomed in the US, Canada, Australia and elsewhere.
He told The Irish Times: "It doesn't seemed to have dawned on us that we are now the innkeepers of Europe, slamming the doors far more effectively than they were slammed in our faces." The bishop said the "trickle" of asylum-seekers into Rosslare Harbour had "dried up" as a result of Government steps to prevent people boarding the ferries from France. "We have members of the Garda S∅ochβna going to Cherbourg two or three times a week. We need to be told what's going on there and what kind of procedures are being put in place. Laws won't solve the problems of injustice, and I think the Irish people have bigger hearts than that."
The EU had a future only "as a family of nations" and not as a fortress, and because of its history Ireland should be taking a lead in establishing humane policies.