Politicians in the Republic "have to bear some responsibility" for contributing to a climate of racial intolerance, particularly in the wake of the stabbing of Mr David Richardson in Dublin in June, a race relations campaign group in Britain said yesterday.
The National Assembly Against Racism (NAAR), an umbrella organisation for several anti-racism groups, made its comments after Mr Richardson's son, Christian, decided to leave his job in Ireland and return to Britain this week following the attack. Mr Richardson was stabbed while walking with his wife and son along Pearse Street during a weekend visit to Dublin.
The secretary of the NAAR, Mr Lee Jasper, said the stabbing of Mr Richardson was a "very serious racist attack" which indicated a general rise in racist attacks in Ireland and across Europe. "It happens in the context of the recent drastic immigration and asylum legislation passed by the Irish Dail.
"Politicians in Ireland and Britain have a responsibility to stand up against racism unreservedly and condemn such horrific attacks as the one experienced by this family.
"The National Assembly Against Racism will campaign relentlessly in support of victims of racism in their quest for justice and for the racists to be made to face the harshest of punishments that such attacks deserve."
Mr Jasper also said there was a perception among black people in Britain that in Ireland "now that there is less sectarian strife, people have turned their attention to race". It was "a view" but that was how many black people felt, he said.