Ireland weak link in security

Edward Horgan is worried about the Irish Naval Service’s new role in fighting people-trafficking criminals and destroying their boats (Irish Independent, Letters, July 11). I believe the State’s main role is the security of its own people. Ireland is Europe’s weakest link when it comes to security, and even Angela Merkel – who is responsible for breaching the Schengen Agreement and Dublin regulation by forcing some EU states to illegally let in people who, in the eyes of international law, are not refugees, but immigrants – acknowledged that there is no doubt some refugees pose a security threat to Germany (a country far better prepared to fight terrorism than Ireland – yet, as we saw last week in Hamburg, still ending up with 500 police hurt in G20 street riots).

We have to bear in mind that Polish refugees fleeing from martial law not only had to have valid passports when 30,000 of them arrived in Austria, but they were also subjected to a curfew and background checks that went on for months (before they could settle in western countries they would only receive $8 spending money every two weeks – and that was mainly for phone calls and letters).

When it comes to terror threat prevention, we should reflect on the last known words of Michael Collins: “In hindsight, it probably wasn’t a good idea to travel in the open top.” Grzegorz Kolodziej Bray, Co Wicklow