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INCIDENTS OF RACIST behaviour are on the rise in Ireland according to a new report.

The European Network Against Racism (ENAR) report indicates that 165 incidents of racism were reported in Ireland in the last six months of 2015, an 11% increase on the first six months of the year when 147 such incidents were seen.

However the figure of 165 reported incidents is a slight reduction on the 182 such incidents seen in the final six months of 2014.

Of those 165 incidents:

• 37 were reports of serious offences, 30 of which involved the use of racist language
• 25 incidences of assault were reported, including seven involving injury
• 41 cases of repeated harassment were reported
• Two cases involved sexual harassment, and one involved rape

“It is appalling that we find ourselves yet again confirming in statistics what Africans, Travellers, Roma, Muslims, Migrants and Minority Irish already know; that racism is a fact of everyday life,” said Shane O’Curry, director of ENAR Ireland.

This report… underscores yet again the urgent need for the Government to act now and to introduce hate crime legislation.

Meanwhile, the author of the report Dr Lucy Michael of Ulster University described her findings as “deplorable”.

“Given the number of academic and NGO reports on racism in Ireland over the last 20 years, it is outrageous that that state has still not developed any significant response to the problem,” she said.

We see ongoing problems both with the recording of racist crimes by An Garda Síochána and communication with victims after reporting, as well as evidence of direct racist discrimination in a range of public services detailed in this report.

The full report can be read here.

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