The Deputy Lord Mayor of Dublin has warned that if racism continues to spread here a situation comparable to the persecution of Jews in Nazi Germany could develop.
Mr Brendan Carr, the Labour Party councillor for Cabra and Glasnevin, said he did not believe Ireland was a racist nation or that Dublin is a racist city. "But I do believe that if the Government goes on with the policies it is going on with, there is a firm danger we will become that way."
He said Government policy, including the new deportation measures, was creating an undercurrent of racism against asylum-seekers in the State.
Mr Carr was also critical of the recent dispersal of asylum-seekers outside Dublin without adequate consultation with local communities.