The Irish
Sir: I was amused to read Richard West's panegyric to Eire (27 May) as I also read the Irish Post —the paper of several hundreds of thousands of Irish immigrants in this country. In it I learn that Eire has the highest unemployment rate in Europe, that schools are going over to smash-proof windows because of the vandalism, that hotels warn guests about go ing out at night because of the mugging. All this is very far from the rosy view of Richard West.
As far as this side of the Irish Sea is con
cerned I learn that a recent survey in the Midlands found that 33 per cent of the indictable and 49 per cent of the nonindictable crime was by the Irish. An article on 'green power in the unions' showed that the majority of British trade union leaders are of recent Irish antecedents, from the Emperor Jack Larkin Jones to Mick McGahey, who once remarked that he grew up (in Scotland) against a background of IRA songs.
Quite obviously Eire's attempt to export her undesirables to Britain (one third of each generation) has caused us many problems without making much difference to her own. Incidentally, the Irish Post estimates that nearly 10 per cent of England's population are now of Irish Catholic extraction. It is noticeable that most of the soccer hooligans come from the Irish ghetto areas and when the same newspaper interviewed some not long ago every one had an Irish christian name and surname.
Robert Brooks 42 Long Ridge House, West Wood Hill, London SE26
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