Madam, - Along with other similar letters you published on the subject, I read with interest the letter of August 2nd from Laura Kennedy. Like the church she attends, members of my church have visited developing countries on short-term mission trips.
The one thing everyone said to us this summer in Malawi was that they would like to come to Ireland. I am concerned that such people hold a distorted picture of our country. They come to Ireland expecting paradise on earth. Some end up living in tents on a roundabout or queuing outside the immigration office until they are deported back to a worse state than that from which they tried to escape.
How do we portray a true picture of Ireland to aspiring immigrants? Madam, thank you for publishing Laura's letter. The more letters you publish on this subject, the more likely we are effectively to address this important issue. - Yours, etc,
MICHAEL THOMPSON, Brookfield Place, Blackrock, Co Dublin.