Courtney McGrailDear Editor, I live beside the refugee centre, outside Portlaoise, which was the Montague Hotel. I have been making their case over the course of the last eight years. Many of these people have been kept here, each family with only one room as their living quarters, since it opened in 2007 and the State has treated them in the most inhumane way.
The State now intends to do the same with our brothers and sisters from war-torn Syria. This cannot be allowed.
We the ordinary people of Ireland must let the world know that we will be a safe haven for these people and that the 1,800 the Government has pledged to accept – which is less than the over 2,600 who have already drowned in the Mediterranean Sea – is an insult to any Irish person worth their salt.
The Government, who clearly once again wants to do a Pontius Pilate and wash their hands of this tragedy, must facilitate communities and families and allow our nation to play its rightful role and fulfil its moral obligation.
The world must know that this Government does not represent the will of the Irish people. We cannot look back in 10 or 20 years times in disgrace.
The lack of dignity we have so far demonstrated in our care (lack of) to the refugees in the Montague Hotel and other such places must never be repeated.
Yours etc.,
Michael Moloney,
Portlaoise,
Co. Laois.