TAOISEACH LEO VARADKAR has said the Government is “committed to rooting out systemic racism” as he launched a national plan to tackle racism this afternoon.
The National Action Plan Against Racism was launched by the Taoiseach, Tánaiste Micheál Martin, Minister for Equality Roderic O’Gorman and Minister of State for Community Development and Integration Joe O’Brien.
The plan was developed by the Anti Racism Committee, which was established by the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration, and Youth in 2020.
It forms part of an EU-wide response to fight racism led by the European Commission, which called on all Member States to develop national action plans against racism by the end of 2022.
Speaking at the launch, Varadkar said the plan is about ensuring that everyone “gets a fair go”.
“We’re becoming much more diverse as a country, and that’s very much a good thing. With this, our attitudes and activities surrounding diversity must evolve as well,” he said.
“The government is committed to rooting out systemic racism, which does exist in our country, and putting in place practices that will reduce it in fall its forms.”
Varadkar said that implementing the proposals set out in the plan “won’t be straightforward” and that some “will take longer than others”, but that the political responsibility is on all of Government to see it through.
“We must be active in challenging discrimination, ensuring that minority ethnic groups have equal access to opportunities and are respected in all parts of their lives,” he said.
“I believe that this plan can help create a much better and much more inclusive society in Ireland.”
Tánaiste Micheál Martin said the plan is at the heart of “who we want to be as a country”.
“We do want to be a country that eliminates racism in all its forms and in all parts of Ireland,” he said.
The plan is Ireland’s “national level, state-led, co-ordinated approach to eliminating racism in all its forms in Ireland”.
It states that there is “clear evidence that racism exists in Ireland and that some of us who live here feel its impact on our day-to-day lives in a variety of ways”.
It proposes a number of priority actions to help make Ireland a place in which “the impacts of racism are fully acknowledged and actively addressed”.
Tanaiste says diversity in our towns and villages only strengthens them. He warmly endorses the new plan. pic.twitter.com/TgHUM5OvR7
— Christina Finn (@christinafinn8) March 21, 2023
The actions are divided into five objectives: supporting people who experience racism by protecting them from racist incidents and crimes, addressing ethnic inequalities, ensuring minority participation in all aspects of life in Ireland, measuring the impacts of racism through data and combating racism through policies, programmes and legislation.
Under the first objective, new mechanisms will be put in place to facilitate third-party and online reporting of racist incidents, while safeguards will be introduced to ensure all victims and witnesses feel safe to report incidents to An Garda Síochána.
A specialist unit within the gardaí will also be set up for the purpose of “developing and disseminating expertise and best practice in dealing with hate crime and racist incidents”.
The report states that measures will be introduced in employment, education, housing and health that will help to address ethnic inequalities.
To enable minority participation in all aspects of society, a code of ethics will be developed for media practices to “address the representation in media of minority ethnic and racialised communities”.
Adherence to the code will be a condition for public funding of media, the report states.
To improve political representation, a public office mentoring programmes for members of minority ethnic communities will also be established to support the selection of minority ethnic candidates, based on the model in use to increase the numbers of women in politics.
In order to “tackle racism from a position of knowledge and insight”, the department will use data to monitor racial equality with the aim of introducing a standardised ethnic classification, based on the Census, across all routine administrative systems, state agencies and surveys.
Objectives and actions to address racism will be included in all relevant public policy programmes, publicly funded community and voluntary sector programmes, while reviews of existing and proposed legislation that impacts on minority ethnic groups will be carried out.
A public education and awareness raising programme will also be carried out in support of the plan’s objectives.
The plan is intended to be implemented over a five-year period from this year to the end of 2027.
€1 million in funding for both local and regional anti-racism projects will also be made available through a newly established Ireland Against Racism Fund.
An independent Special Rapporteur on Racial Equality and Racism will also be appointed to monitor implementation of the plan.
To measure progress of the plan, the department, working with a coordination committee, will prepare an implementation report of each action under the plan.
The first of these reports will pay particular attention to the subject of ethnic equality data gathering and use.
The reports will be made to the Integration Minister and to the Special Rapporteur on Racial Equality and Racism.
Reacting to the launch, the Immigrant Council of Ireland has welcomed the plan, but urged the Government to ensure that its actions are implemented.
“We at the Immigrant Council, along with others in civil society, have been calling for this plan for several years. It is much needed to raise the visibility of racism, to focus resources on supporting victims, and ensure that disinformation and bias have no place in Irish communities,” Immigrant Council CEO Brian Killoran said.
“For too long the issue of racism has been seen as not impacting Ireland – a position which stands in stark contrast to the experiences of many within migrant and diverse communities who have been on the receiving end.
Killoran said that recent upsurges of anti-migrant sentiment, “corralled and fanned by the far right, show that the need is clearly there to stop the spread of prejudice and division”.
“Ireland is diverse, and that diversity is a massive positive for all of us. Those who would seek to lay the blame for all the failings within our society, such as housing or healthcare issues, at the feet of new communities have nothing to offer but corrosive, racially charged sentiments and misguided blame.
“This action plan must be a clarion call to all of us within Irish society who value diversity to work together to hold the line against hate.”
Additional reporting from Christina Finn
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