Letter to the Irish Independent

 

So Mr Denis Naughten of the Fine Gael party is concerned about the “bubbling undercurrent of racism” in Irish society? Sunday Independent 3 August 2008. The Immigration and Integration spokesman for Fine Gael puts this “bubbling undercurrent of racism” down to the fact that Irish people are upset that foreign workers might be holding onto their jobs while they are being let go. His reason for this opinion has come about by talking with Irish people who are on the live register who “are walking by building sites and seeing the pole or Latvian working,yet they have been laid off“. Fair enough. But whats Mr Naughtens position for curing this social ill? How do we get rid of this “bubbling undercurrent of racism“?
 
In his own words we “re-train Irish workers so that they can compete for jobs against more highly skilled immigrants“. Does he honestly think that the reason they are the ones not being let go on the building sites is because they are “highly skilled“? How higher can the skill of a plumber/electrician really be after he/she has qualified? The reason Irish workers are being let go is because the foreign workers will work for less,or for longer hours. The Capitalist (boss) has to secure a profit to survive,its the nature of the beast. He/she does this by either lenghtening the hours of the workers or cutting there wages. The immigrant worker is the obvious choice for the Irish Capitalist. Why is Mr Naughten trying to confuse the matter and make it look like something it isn’t?
 
The fact that he attributes the brutal murder of two polish men in Drimnagh to this so called “bubbling undercurrent of racism” shows he is really clutching at straws to try and secure his opinion. It is highly absurd to say that the murder of these polish men was racially motivated,anybody who read even the smallest of details about this incident would agree. Mr Denis Naughten is the one who is creating the “bubbling undercurrent of racism” by writing these falsehoods in a national paper. Racism,sectarianism and the competition between country and city workers is the affect of the competitive free market on society. The workers are forced into a pitched battle against each other for the means of survival and security (food,housing,etc,..) Our politicians represent this capitalist class so they will continue to try and distort the truth just like Mr Naughten has. I just hope this letter gets through and is read by a worker who may have a “bubbling undercurrent of racism” and who may be directing it against the wrong person or group of people.