Ireland’s special rapporteur on the Government’s plan to tackle racism in the country has spoken of how she has received death threats and is often targeted by racist trolls online.
Dr Ebun Joseph, a race relations consultant and director of the Institute of Antiracism and Black Studies, has been appointed as the special rapporteur for the National Plan Against Racism.
Dr Joseph said she is seeing an increase in incidents of racism, and is contacted by people who are experiencing racism every day.
Minister of State for Community Development Joe O’Brien said that Dr Joseph will be a voice independent from Government.
He also announced the establishment of the advisory group on racism and racial equality and the launch of the Ireland Against Racism Fund.
Dr Joseph said there is an urgency in dealing with racism in Ireland.
“We all wanted actions yesterday. Everybody wanted actions yesterday, and also because we are seeing increasing incidence of racism,” she said.
“Even two groups who didn’t experience racism before are now experiencing racism on a much bigger level, and so people were panicking, with the alt-right.
“There is a lot of, you know, racist incidents that happen.”
She added: “I get phone calls all the time, people experiencing racism, or people getting fired from their place of work in a month.
“These are real incidences in the workplace, it happens on the streets, we’ve seen people being killed.
Upsurge in Hate Crimes, Racial Violence and Harassment, facilitated by Systemic Gaps in Legislationhttps://t.co/kMpwi7bHOl
— Irish Human Rights & Equality Commission (@_IHREC) July 1, 2024
“There are people taking their own lives from racism. I say racism kills.
“There are some kids who don’t want to go to school any more because of their experience of racism.”
Dr Joseph said she is hopeful that her role and the advisory group, made up of people from various backgrounds and campaign groups, will make a huge difference to people from ethnic minorities.
“I think first and foremost that Ireland, in recruiting this position, shows that we’re ready, that we are taking it seriously,” she added.
“I have a strong voice and I will say it as it is.”
She also said that legislating the proposed hate crime laws is a “matter of urgency”.
“Even myself, I get so many, like right now – just follow my Twitter page and you will see the level of hate I’m going to get [from this].
“I posted about [Irish athlete] Rhasidat [Adeleke] who is the fastest woman in the 100m, 200m and 400m races, that’s all I posted on Twitter, and within three hours I had to block 40 people.
“I deleted and blocked them. Forty. I had to block really horrible comments.
“At one time I was getting death threats in my personal email, I had to go to the gardai. It is worrying and then I say, should I do this work? And I said, no, you know what? People did the work for us to be here.
“People did the work for us to have the right to vote. People did the work to get the right for us to be in schools with white people.”
Mr O’Brien said: “So in terms of the rapporteur’s role, she’s got a five-year term, she will be a voice independent from Government.
“Her primary role is to make sure that the National Action Plan Against Racism is monitored and implemented.
“I suppose it’s really about raising the level of awareness in Ireland about racism and the impact of racism on people from minorities as well.
“It’s about building understanding among the wider community, but primarily to make sure that the plan is implemented and I’ll be working closely with her to make sure that that happens.”
The Green Minister added: “I think if you speak to anyone from an ethnic minority, and I think particularly travellers, they will tell you that racism has been present in Ireland for a very long time.
“While it may not be evident to many of us, in the majority population, it’s been there for a long time.
“No doubt there has been expressions of it in a very public way and in a very hateful way over the last few years, so I’m glad we’re bringing in these measures today to strengthen the voice of anti-racism.”
The members of the advisory committee include Dr Niloufar Omidi; Mohammad Naeem from the UN Youth Delegate; Rachel Coffey of the National Youth Council of Ireland; councillor Hazel Chu; Martin Collins, co-director of Pavee Point; Shane O’Curry, director of Irish Network Against Racism; Dr James Carr an Associate Professor in Sociology, University of Limerick; human rights lawyer Patricia Munatsi; David Joyce of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions; and Gina Miyagawa, a roma health co-ordinator at the HSE.
