Madam, - I agree with Minister of State for Integration Conor Lenihan's position on some schools discriminating against students who were not Irish nationals; but I can't for the life of me understand his assertion that "Irish parents" were becoming concerned that their children would suffer from a lower standard of education in schools where there were large numbers of "foreign national" students (The Irish Times, July 30th).
In the Dublin North West Inner City Community Network area where, according to Census 2006, nearly 37 per cent of the population was born outside this State, there is no evidence of falling standards in the schools. On the contrary, our schools are experiencing a renaissance through the sharing of diverse cultural learning experiences involving parents, students, teachers and the larger community.
It would be better for the new Minister of State to promote the mainstreaming of the projects in cultural mediation pioneered in schools by our local area network. While he is at it, he might study the work plan of our intercultural officer in building complementary social capital banks in the neighbourhoods through our community development projects.
Finally, I believe, the use of the term "racially mixed neighbourhoods" in your report is unhelpful. There is only one race in this world - the human race. When we become aware that we are dealing with human beings, we can start making progress in terms of developing a real democratic republic. - Yours, etc,
KEN McCUE, Chair, Intercultural Work Group, Dublin Northwest Inner City Network, Dublin 7.