Racism In Ireland. A Quarterly Report from iReport.ie

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A new report comprehensively examines incidents of racism in Ireland and examines the State’s response.

Compiled by iReport.ie the report examines the first quarter of 2014. Of 112 reported racist incidents in the first three months of the year…

Fourteen assaults were reported… Two of the victims were reported as hospitalised as a result of the violence, one of which involved the victim being kicked unconscious, the other a punch to the jaw which broke it. Both of these incidents occurred in Dublin city centre in daylight hours and involved small groups of white Irish assailants in unprovoked and sudden attacks. The victims, a single victim in each incident, were Brazilian and Asian Muslim.

Some people have been targeted in their homes…

A Roma man was attacked with rocks at his home when he tried to leave the house to ring Gardaí after two front windows had been smashed. His family had been the recipients of an ongoing spate of similar attacks on the flat. He was visibly bleeding as a result of the attack. The incident was reported by a neighbour.

Who are the victims?

Cases involving the highest threat levels, including those meeting the criteria for assault, significantly affected younger people. Four cases involved children under 14, and 5 cases involved 18-25 year olds, while 7 cases involved adults aged 26-35 years old. This compared to just 8 cases involving reported victims over the age of 35.

How accurate is reporting and how seriously are the Gardaí taking racist incidents?

 An Garda Siochana need to dramatically change how it deals with racism in our society. Given our previous reports have shown a low level of confidence in reporting to the Garda, it is essential that when reporting does happen it is dealt with sensitively and effectively. That we are seeing so many cases of peoples interaction with Gardai falling at the first hurdle is a striking indicator of a systemic problem.

 …twice as many people reporting racism to An Garda Siochana receive a negative response as do a positive response. These vary from the misidentification of racist incidents,  to  Garda actively refusing to take statements from victims of racism.  These experiences also reflect the much lower levels of racism recorded by An Garda Siochana than what is being reported via ENAR Irelands iReport system.

The full report is available here.

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