Just one in six people who experience racist incident in Ireland reports it to the Garda, according to a report.
The report by the Irish Network Against Racism, which was published in Brussels yesterday, says Ireland’s legal framework does not protect society from racist violence and crime. It stated that racist violence and crime accounted for 75 per cent of the racist incidents reported to the network last year, or 113 of the 149 incidents reported.
"Only one in six people report racist incidents to the police, often due to fear or the fact they feel nothing can be done," said report author Catherine Lynch. "The report challenges the pervasive myth that racism is not a significant issue in Ireland and that we are leaders on equality in the European context." The network would like people to call for Minister for Justice Alan Shatter to establish an offence of racist crime by signing a petition at enarireland.org.