Fear of loss of identity and community is fostering inhospitable attitudes to newcomers and asylum-seekers, Mr Joe McDonagh, chairman of the National Anti-Racism Committee, has said.
The former president of the GAA, current chief executive of Foras na Gaeilge and chairman of TG4, said it was ironic that, at a time of depopulation in some rural areas, such attitudes were being formed.
He was the keynote speaker at the first convention of the Irish Rural Dwellers' Association (IRDA) in Oranmore, Co Galway.
Mr McDonagh said that the psychological effect of depopulation was something that should not be underestimated. The full extent and impact of such depopulation was something he had experienced at first hand when touring schools and clubs in Connacht during his final months as GAA president.
"We are all familiar with the issue, through the Bishops' Commission report and other initiatives, and Prof Seamus Caulfield highlighted the extent of the demographic crisis in north-west Mayo earlier this week," Mr McDonagh told The Irish Times. "But to go into a school and to find 10 or 11 pupils, and no obvious future ahead, is quite disturbing."
Not only were communities losing schools, they were also losing GAA clubs, and the sports organisation had been forced to recommend an amalgamation of clubs in some areas, he said.
"The fear of loss of identity and of community came across in the GAA surveys at the time, and similar fears have also emerged in work done by the National Anti-Racism Committee," Mr McDonagh said. "Ironically, this has fuelled a racism and a formation of inhospitable attitudes towards newcomers and asylum-seekers, and this is something we should be concerned about."
Mr Jim Connolly, acting secretary of the new association, said its formation was due to the need for a united voice for rural dwellers, particularly on planning issues. He believed that the motivation for all those participating was a love of the countryside, its culture, traditions and people. The members of the association's steering committee represented a huge section of Irish society, he said.
Having lived and reared his family for most of his life in a rural area, he believed that he was witnessing a turning point in Irish history. The "forces and pressures bearing down on rural life have the potential to inflict as much terminal damage on rural communities as the Famine and other events that began in the 19th century", he said.
The main aim of the IRDA was to ensure "by legal and constitutional means" the growth and maintenance of a vibrant populated countryside in the traditional Irish forms of baile fearann or dispersed sraid bhaile or street village, and the nucleated (clustered) village.
The convention was chaired by Senator Labhrás Ó Murchu, director-general of Comhaltas Ceolteoiri Eireann. Among the participants at yesterday's convention were Prof Seamus Caulfield, who earlier this week warned of a demographic crisis in north-west Mayo, Dr Jerry Cowley, the Independent TD for Mayo, and Mr Sean Hannick, chairman of the Council for the West. All three are members of the IRDA steering committee.
Also on the committee are the Sligo/Leitrim Independent TD, Ms Marian Harkin, Mr Pat O'Rourke, president of the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers' Association, and Ms Marcella Tiernan, chairwoman of the Irish Countrywomen's Association's national executive.
