Sir, - The article by Christopher Zinn (The Irish Times, September 10th, 1998) on the visit of President McAleese to Australia and the lessons and inspiration that Australians can draw from her was useful as far as it went. However, it could also have gone further, to reflect what Ireland could learn from Australia. Through The Irish Times on the Web, I have been following with interest the ongoing debate in Ireland on immigration and refugees. As an Irish migrant to Australia (in 1981), I find that the multicultural nature of Australia is one of its most satisfying aspects. The migrants that began arriving some 200 years ago were mainly from the UK and Ireland. Since the end of the second World War, these have been joined by waves of migrants from Italy, Greece, Poland, Holland, Yugoslavia etc., and more recently from South-East Asia and elsewhere. It is sobering to reflect on just how unbearably boring and old-fashioned Australian society and Australian cities would be without the cultural (and culinary!) broadening that these migrants have brought.
Of course, the ignorant, the insecure and the xenophobic among us have always objected to this dilution of the so-called "Anglo-Celtic heritage", and Ms Hanson and her One Nation (One Notion?) Party have just become their mouthpiece. As parts of our
society become increasingly marginalised by unemployment and poverty, such demagogues find increasingly fertile gound in which to sow their seeds. It is easy to blame the newcomers for all the ills of society, particularly if they look different (the pejoratively-termed "Asians" in the Australian case, and perhaps the Eastern Europeans in Ireland). Mainstream politicians must take some of the blame for this, because of their failure to regard the health of society as a whole as being just as important as the health of the national economy. All of this is not to suggest that a calm, rational debate on appropriate and sustainable levels of immigration should not take place, in either Australia or Ireland. However, as an Irish immigrant in Australia, I would find it extremely disappointing if the Irish people, who in poorer times were lucky to be able to take advantage of the immigration policies of the US, Canada, Australia, etc., were now in better times to decide to shut out completely those in need.
Clearly, to use Zinn's words, it is not only Australia "that is groping to decide what sort of future and cultural identity it really wants: the inclusiveness of Mrs McAleese or the isolationism of Ms Hanson". I hope that both Ireland and Australia make a firm commitment to the former, and emphatically reject the latter. - Yours, etc., Martin Fahey,
University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia.