Controversy over allegedly racist comments by the British newspaper columnist Julie Burchill highlighted the fact that Irish people still faced discrimination in Britain, according to a London-based politician, Mr Noel Lynch.
Yesterday, Mr Lynch lodged a complaint against one of Burchill's columns with the Metropolitan Police's diversity unit.
He complained about her Guardian column of September 20th, in which she said the St Patrick's Day parade in London was "the celebration of a religion that condemns contraception, abortion, divorce and the right of a woman to be a priest".
Mr Lynch, a Green Party politician, is a member of the Metropolitan Police Authority and the London Assembly.
He said Burchill's comments were the latest in a series of insults Irish people had to face on a daily basis.
Last year, Mr John Twomey of the London Irish Centre complained about an article in which the columnist claimed the Catholic Church was engaged in "almost compulsory child molestation". However, the Crown Prosecution Service found there was insufficient evidence for a charge involving incitement to racial hatred.
While Burchill has said in the past that her criticisms of the Catholic Church were not criticisms of the Irish people, Mr Lynch claimed Burchill was using the church as a vehicle to insult Irish people.
"We are definitely not going to let this continue. Irish people will accept fair comment, but this is abuse," he claimed.
