Use of a common language is the most potent tool in facilitating integration within any society. But the Department of Education has struggled to provide adequate facilities, or even school places, for primary school children who do not speak English as a first language. And the provision of adult English language courses for their parents and other immigrant workers has been woefully inadequate. These administrative failings are a recipe for future disaster.
The linkage between successful integration and education was emphasised by President McAleese to the Immigrant Council during the week. The reception accorded to the 6 per cent of the school population who were not born here, she said, would sketch the future shape and character of our society. While important work was being done in teacher training, the provision of support teachers and intercultural training, language training was the single most important cross-cutting, life-transforming area.
The urgency of the situation cannot be overstated. The spectacle of immigrant children - or any others - being refused access to national school education shames us all. Archbishop of Dublin Dr Diarmuid Martin insists it is grossly unfair to blame the Catholic Church's enrolment policies for the situation and blames poor planning by the Department of Education. That may be so. But a multi-denominational republic should be able to arrange its business more efficiently. Minister for Education Mary Hanafin should not just introduce a new patron model for the establishment of all-inclusive community primary schools in areas of population growth, the State should actively facilitate that development. As things stand, more than 90 per cent of primary schools are managed by the Catholic Church.
It is normal for immigrants to seek comfort and familiarity among their compatriots in a strange land. But broad avenues to the mainstream have to be kept open in order to prevent the incubation of ghettoisation. We all have a responsibility to offer a welcoming hand to this influx of talent, cultures and creativity. It may not be easy. As the economy slows and jobs are lost, tensions are likely to develop. Because of that, President McAleese argues it is vital that those who have legitimate concerns about the impact of migration should be heard. " Issues," she said, "should be talked out and dealt with in an 'all of us together' way, rather than an 'us and them' way. Those who come here are now 'us'. There is no 'them'. There is just us, all of us."
More assertive political and administrative leadership is required, along with an increase in resources. Integration will not happen simply by wishing it. If we are to avoid the mistakes made by other European countries, it will take careful planning, imagination and hard work. But it can be done. As President McAleese observed: Ireland has no excuse for getting it wrong and every chance of getting it right.