Rise in alleged racist assaults prompts call for hate crime legislation

A report by the European Network Against Racism Ireland (ENAR Ireland) identified 165 incidents between July-December 2015.

Data for the report was collected through iReport.ie, an online reporting system where people in Ireland can confidentially report racist incidents to ENAR Ireland.

Shane O’Curry, director of ENAR Ireland, said the “number of serious offences and hate crimes is alarmingly high”.

He added: “This report, and last weeks announcement by the European Parliament that it would be inspecting the Irish Government on its compliance with the Framework Decision on Racism and Xenophobia, underscores yet again the urgent need for the Government to act now introduce hate crime legislation.

“We must have hate crime legislation to protect all minorities in Ireland, so that they can participate as equals in our society. That is why our group Action Against Racism has been leading the Love Not Hate campaign for hate crime legislation, involving 55 organisations.

“Our data shows that the likelihood of very serious hate crimes is consistently high, our members understand that we need hate crime legislation urgently. The Government must act now before it’s too late.”

Dr Lucy Michael of Ulster University, who authored the ENAR report, described the number of assaults over the period as “deplorable”.

She said: “Given the number of academic and NGO reports on racism in Ireland over the last 20 years, it is outrageous that that state has still not developed any significant response to the problem.

“We see ongoing problems both with the recording of racist crimes by An Garda Siochana and communication with victims after reporting, as well as evidence of direct racist discrimination in a range of public services detailed in this report.

“There is a very clearly a culture of ignoring racism in our society amongst our public servants, and of perpetrating it.”