There has been a recent increase in racist attacks in Northern Ireland, according to the chief executive of the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland. She said recent research there showed people are more racist than they are sectarian.
Ms Evelyn Collins was talking to the media before the first joint meeting of the boards of the equality commissions of Northern Ireland and the Republic yesterday. Both commissions were set up 11 months ago.
They are charged with dealing with discrimination in employment and in the provision of goods and services on a range of grounds, including gender, race, religion, membership of the Travelling community, sexual orientation and disability. The meeting was to explore areas in which they could work together.
The chief executive of the Republic's commission, Mr Niall Crowley, said that already the two commissions had embarked on a joint research project on integrating the equality agenda.
They were also working on structural funds together, he said. A new EU initiative, the Equal Initiative, was coming on stream next year and would be funding a small number of large-scale projects, looking at ways to address inequalities in the labour market. They would be seeking assistance from this initiative for joint practical projects.
Ms Collins said her commission was also campaigning for a single Equality Act, similar to the one that existed in the South, rather than the five different pieces of legislation that exist at the moment. Two Ministers from the Executive, Mr Dermot Nesbitt and Mr Denis Haughey, had been nominated to deal with equality issues, she said.
There was a great lack of awareness about difference in Northern Ireland, and there had been a recent increase in racist attacks there, she added. The commission was also engaged in education on this issue.