OWD, keeping one's like minded heritage is reoccurring theme in many places. The melting pot days are over - these new arrivals are just looking for a new place to stay with their old heritage and traditions shoved down your throat.
...and for many, this doesn't fly.
Not sure if LG is trying to start a row, but his comments above are ill-informed and distasteful to me. How can an immigrant adopt a “heritage” when by definition it is inherited? Integration of new immigrants is not something that can happen overnight, nor is it a one-sided event.
Bigots who state that immigrants cause locals to lose their heritage feed that possibility through their closed-mind apartheid attitudes.
What is London’s “heritage”? Originally a cluster of wattle and daub huts, it became a Roman fort about 50 BC (Italian), then a 4 c Saxon stronghold (mainly Danish), followed by 11th century Normans (French). The Tudors were Welsh; then it was the residence of Scottish kings (James I etc.,) and there was a big French influence following the Restoration. Then came the Germans / Hanoverians in the shape of the Georges. They, like all the other interlopers before them, brought their own followers and retinues (look at the surnames in London today.) Add to that the Lombards (more Italians, even have a street named after them) and the Huguenots (French and some German.) Not to mention the Irish who went there for centuries.
During the last few years Ireland has had an influx of people mainly from Eastern Europe. They are learning our culture, language and customs. However, it will be at least the next generation before they become integrated in the true sense, and I have no issues with that. My own family was English, came to Ireland over 350 years ago and since then have played an active role in the affairs of the Irish State.
Methinks Mr. G would retain the lofty position he aspires too if he left the farm a bit more frequently, with both his mind and his eyes open.... and his mouth shut.
Km.