Irish people should look to their own history and diversity when considering how to treat newcomers, the South African Minister for Education, Dr Kadar Asmal said.
Speaking at the ICTU conference on immigration on Saturday, Dr Asmal warned against a "historic forgetfulness that the Irish were in the past an emigrant nation".
Irish people should be "exhilarated" that they are confronting a challenge that is the result of prosperity. He said he knew the Irish people would "once again rise to the challenge" and "thwart the enemy of racism". However, tolerance was "not in your blood . . . but in your humane political tradition which is the product of hard work and communal values".
The way to address the challenge was not to attempt an assimilation of cultures but to "make provision to ensure a durable multiculturalism".
Dr Asmal admitted that this was not an easy task and he stressed that the practice of multiculturalism must not degenerate into irrelevance or charity. "Multiculturalism must be based on genuine respect, which is much more than mere charity," he said. "True multiculturalism must begin in the realisation that immigrants are bringing real economic and social value here." Immigrants, he said, were here to help us build on our prosperity, not "to beg favour" from us.
"Cultural diversity is a strength, not a weakness. It is an asset not a liability," Dr Asmal said. He commended the Employment Equality Act and the Equal Status Act as "beacons of social justice for all who make Ireland their home".
Strong leadership, he concluded, was crucial to achieving a multicultural society. "The challenge of leadership is to work out how to receive immigrants and recognise the opportunities they bring for the enrichment of Irish life."
