Madam, - The report in your edition of August 8th on the "dramatic rise in non-Irish population" and the accompanying maps produced by "demographics specialists Gamma" contain a number of regrettable inaccuracies and inferences.
The first is the equation of immigrant numbers with place of birth. Though place of birth may signify nationality or citizenship, this is not always the case. Therefore, those marked as immigrants on the basis of where they were born could have moved to Ireland at any stage in their lives and may well be Irish citizens.
The second is the lack of attention to migration history. Arguments about immigrant numbers that pay no attention to when people moved to Ireland serve to homogenise migrants and migrant experiences. Thus, this report makes no distinction between an Irish citizen born in London, who moved to Ireland in 1984 aged six months, and a British citizen, born in Germany, who moved to Ireland in 2006 aged 30.
The third is the use of the colour red to signify areas of high "immigrant" concentration. Cartographers have long been aware of the associations of red with danger. The creation of maps using this colour scheme creates the illusion of "immigrant invasion" based on inaccurate assumptions and figures. This is irresponsible, and it detracts attention from more pressing questions about integration, opportunities and access to housing and services for all Irish residents.
All maps contain distortions. It is a shame that the distortions in these maps were compounded by the accompanying text. It is to be hoped that this form of analysis will not provide a basis for an integration policy for the new Minister for Integration. - Yours, etc,
Dr MARY GILMARTIN and Dr ALICE FELDMAN, Migration & Citizenship Research Initiative, UCD, Belfield, Dublin 4.
Madam, - With reference to the reported "dramatic rise in the non-Irish population", the green fields of The Ward and St Margaret's have a 31 per cent non-Irish population because of the presence of the residential asylum reception centre in Balseskin. - Yours, etc,
EILEEN FALVEY, North Road, Finglas, Dublin 11.