COMPLACENCY ABOUT racism is increasing and victims of racist attacks are increasingly unwilling to report them to the Garda, the chief executive of the Immigrant Council of Ireland has warned.
Denise Charlton, speaking at a conference on increasing young people’s participation in combating racism, said there was a “growing gap . . . between the authorities, be it local councils or the gardaí, and the victims of racism. The people who speak to us are showing a reluctance to come forward to the representatives of ‘official Ireland’.”
Increasingly, she said, victims felt their complaints would be filed away and ignored or that a complaint put them in the spotlight and made them a likely target for future attacks.
“Witnesses too are turning a blind eye – not wanting to get involved when they see incidents in public places.”
This was unacceptable, she said.
Prof Mairtín Mac an Ghaill, of Newman University College, Birmingham, said that if racism was to be radically addressed, the sense of exclusion felt by the poorest members of the ethnic majority must be addressed.
“We need to start with the white, dispossessed, working class.”
