Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)

They were boxed in and discriminated against.

We should look forward to the kind of society which is emerging. Let us not have ghettos and under-classes which are culturally or ethnically distinct but, instead, let us try to create a new society. We are beginning this process from a simple position. Let us not make the mistakes other societies have made in the wake of immigration.

Some aspects of immigration are almost natural, namely, that there will be clannishness among immigrant groups, immigrants will tend to stick together and, in the first instance, will be at the lower end of the economic spectrum. That is the nature of migration. Let us not cod ourselves on that issue. By the same token let us remember there is a series of international precedents from which we can learn to ensure we do not make the mistakes that have done so much damage elsewhere in Europe. I am hopeful that Ireland can, with a bit of luck — the luck of the Irish — and some commitment, avoid some of the adverse effects of internal social polarisation which leads to racist thought.

I believe I have acted reasonably in all of these matters, as has the Government. If we had not enacted this legislation, the opportunity for right-wing racism to enter Irish politics would have been enormous. Our system, like most systems in the northern European political world, is wide open for people to campaign on anti-immigration issues. It is very strange that Holland, Denmark and other countries, which we would regard as bastions of liberalism, have seen the emergence of a revanchist right achieving quite significant parliamentary representation because of a perception that the society was somehow inadequate in its response to internal migration. Irish people should reflect on the fact that the few people who put their heads up over the parapet with the intent to exploit race in an electoral context, in the European, parliamentary and local elections, got nowhere. They did not register.