Being African in Ireland

Photo Credit: TheJournal.ie

Ireland fondly known in the past, as” a land with a thousand welcomes” has now become “a land with a million curses and abuses” because of racism.

Racism is a living nightmare in Ireland, it stares you in the face every day and you can see in the eyes of white Irish people that you are hated and unwanted. It is a message that you cannot pretend not to see or recognize and it is getting worse. In February 2016, “The Journal” reported a heart breaking incidence in Dublin, of a racial abuse towards a Black Irish man which ended up in court and eventually the Black man won the case. In March, 2011, according to a report by Irish Central, a South-African man who dared to canvass at the local elections was racially attacked, even though his participation was legal under the Irish Law. According to Irish Times September 2, 2016, a county Longford Judge suggested that “shopping centres would ban coloured people entering their premises if the spat of shop lifting does not stop”. There were calls for a public apology from the Judge but he did not heed, even though he came under fire from anti-racism campaigners. The situation is terrible that even a Judge could stoop so low. The list is endless. A lot of people in Ireland say they are not racist but no one fights against it openly except for one or two anti-racism campaigners.

People from “black African” background are the most vulnerable to racist attacks including violence, harassment and discrimination by public institutions according to a report from the study done by the European Network Against Racism (Enar Ireland). This study found out that social media is increasingly used to abuse minorities and “mobilize” racism. The study also reported that a low level of satisfaction with responses to complaints about abuse and a high level of confusion among victims about support available from the Garda (the Irish Police).The report covered the period from July to December 2014 in which Enar received reports of 182 incidents of racist verbal abuse, violence, discrimination and other attacks. Its chairman, Shane O’Curry, said that “this figure is considered the tip of the iceberg” because the reporting system in use since July 2013 is relatively new.

Reports of racist incidents were gathered from more than 40 civil organisations around the State and also from members of the public, including victims of abuse, according to reports by Enar, 2013, which is the most credible and comprehensive reporting system in Ireland. Mr O’Curry also said that the figures showed that incidents of racist abuse remain steadily high, “Anecdotally, it seems racism is increasing, that people feel a greater entitlement to express their racism, and that is worrying.” The report finds people identifying as either “black African” or black from any other background accounted for 59 of the reports of abuse. People from Asian and Asian-Chinese backgrounds accounted for 29, while there were 19 incidents involving people identified as Muslim. There were 16 cases involving Roma and 14 among Travelers.

Of the groups targeted significantly, there were at least 32 incidents, almost 20 per cent of the total number; and attacks were directed against groups of people rather than individuals. “Twelve of these involved racist comments or representations in national and local media, or on social media with a wide general audience,” Young women in particular are victims of stalking and harassment in public places, while harassment of black families in their neighborhoods is also extensive. The anti-racism watchdog found that black and African people are often reluctant to call attention to the victimization in case it caused further problems.

Ireland is a nation that is in denial of the existence of racism which makes it very difficult to tackle because the Police department is not adequately equipped to handle these incidences. However, the good news is that Ireland has now come under fire from a new European anti-racism watch dog, it says Ireland is one of the worst countries in the EU for failing to ratify a number of anti-discrimination treaties. The Irish Council for Civil Liberties is calling on the next Government to address the matter by rewriting Ireland's hard-line immigration legislation, which allows for "up-front detention measures" and deportations to high-risk areas.

REFERENCES:

• Irish Times, available at: http://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/black-africans-face-most-racist-abuse-in-ireland-says-report-1.2146079. [accessed in September, 2016]

• Ireport, available at: https://www.ireport.ie/. [accessed in September, 2016]

• The Journal, available at: http://www.thejournal.ie/dublin-street-racism-courts-2586422-Feb2016

• Irish Central available at: http://www.irishcentral.com/news/south-african-man-takes-landmark-case-on-racism-in-irish-courts-poll-118569009-237378051.html

• Irish Times available at: http://www.irishtimes.com/news/longford-judge-defends-coloured-people-comment-1.462706

• RTE News, available at: http://www.rte.ie/news/2015/1119/743671-racism-in-ireland/. [accessed in September, 2016]

• Arnireland, available at: http://arnireland.blogspot.ie/. [accessed in September, 2016]

• Nasc, available at: http://www.nascireland.org/latest-news/stop-the-silence-a-snapshot-of-racism-in-cork/

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