Rashed is a young Nigerian asylum-seeker who has lived in Dublin for two years. Last spring he was walking down the South Circular Road early one morning towards a shop to buy some groceries. Two men in their 30s were walking towards him. As they approached, one of them, without warning, hit him in the face. As he leaned down to support himself on a garden wall, Rashed looked back and saw his assailant's companion laughing. No words were spoken.

A passer-by who came to his assistance told him he had heard the two men discussing attacking "black men". Rashed reported the attack to gardai - "for the sake of formality. I wasn't interested in prosecuting".

The shopkeeper expressed surprise at how reluctant passers-by were to come forward to help the young Nigerian on a busy weekday morning.

"I never expected that anyone would attack me in such a totally unprovoked way," says Rashed. "I could not imagine that happening in Africa, which is supposed to be underdeveloped. I'm very careful since the attack. If I see somebody coming towards me I look at them twice now."

He has come to the conclusion that there are two types of Irish people. Educated, open-minded people, and those who are ignorant about the world outside Ireland. The latter take much of their information from the media, and "take it at face value".