Unions and employer bodies should expel members who engage in racist behaviour, the general secretary of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, Mr Peter Cassells, has said.
"A small racist minority cannot be allowed to subvert the wishes of the vast majority of Irish people who want to enjoy the benefits of a diverse and intercultural community in the workplace and society," he said. So far only one person has been convicted under the Incitement to Hatred Act. A Dublin Bus driver, Mr Gerry O'Grady, was given 12 months' probation and fined £900 for verbally abusing a passenger.
Mr O'Grady resigned from his job so the question of disciplinary procedures did not arise. CIE's director of corporate affairs, Mr Cyril Ferris, said yesterday the company had gender-and culture-proofing policies in place. Dublin Bus employs over 100 non-EU nationals as drivers.
Mr Cassells was speaking at the introduction of an ICTU "Tutors' Pack" to promote diversity in the workplace. It was compiled in consultation with voluntary groups and others working with refugees, Travellers and asylum-seekers.
ICTU's director of education, Ms Margaret Nolan, said that without training for workers and employers, policies that promoted diversity and inter-culturalism would remain "little more than aspirations".
The pack is part of a training module and is supported by the Equality Authority and employer bodies. Ms Nolan said it was designed to make people more aware of issues, "including perceptions and prejudices, role of the media, promotion, harassment, interviews, racist jokes and developing union policies to promote diversity".
Earlier the director of social policy for the Irish Business and Employers' Confederation (IBEC), Mr Brendan Butler, said 350,000 immigrant workers would be needed to achieve the targets of the £40 billion National Development Plan. Many would come from countries with very different cultures and traditions from our own.
Apart from the social issues there was a very strong economic and business case for ensuring the workplace was free from racism. At present 6 per cent of all jobs in Ireland were vacant, of which companies were finding half difficult to fill.
Speaking at a joint ICTU-IBEC function to launch Anti-Racist Workplace Week, Mr Butler said: "There is little doubt that if Ireland develops a reputation as racist, it will deter people coming and will impact on our ability as an economy to continue to grow.
"We already have some evidence of people leaving Ireland as a result of racist attacks. This situation must be addressed as an absolute priority and IBEC welcomes the Government's announcement of a major information campaign."