Catherine Noone (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister to the House. Those in the Gallery are also very welcome. I welcome the motion and commend Senators Mac Conghail, Zappone and others on raising the issue. It is a subject that is worth debating and taking the time to reflect on. Ireland has changed greatly in its demography in recent years and has become a much more diverse place. This fact should be celebrated yet, as other Senators have expressed, racism is unfortunately still rife in this country. A debate such as this is therefore absolutely worthwhile and I hope that it will allow us to give more consideration to finding ways around racism.
The motion rightly points out that the programme for Government has a stated ambition to "promote policies which integrate minority ethnic groups in Ireland, and which promote social inclusion, equality, diversity and participation of immigrants in the economic, social, political and cultural life of their communities". If we focus on the political aspect of that, we see a marked rise in the number of people from minority ethnic groups in Ireland who participated in the recent local elections. That is most welcome. We had a girl who ran for Fine Gael in my own area who came ninth in an eight-seat district, so we were very sorry that she did not succeed in taking a seat at local level. We certainly need more voices to represent the many ethnic communities that are in Ireland. I am sure that she will be successful on the next occasion.
Socially and culturally right across this city, we have seen diversity being promoted more than ever. A great many literary and cultural festivals are now taking place, promoted particularly by Dublin City Council. That is fantastic and can only enhance Irish society and culture. It is certainly one much more gentle way to try to dissuade people of their beliefs or behaviours when it comes to racism.
The motion rightly references the 2011 report of the UN committee on the lack of legislation around racial profiling by the Garda Síochána, particularly when it comes to Border controls. Down through the years, we have heard a number of reports about people who were startled by the blatant racial profiling which took place on Dublin to Belfast train and bus services, where individuals seemed to be singled out for no reason other than race. This, too, needs to be highlighted and consideration should be given to putting legislation in place.
There is no question that the reporting of racist incidents and the mechanisms to deal with them are inconsistent and unco-ordinated. Senator Ó Clochartaigh has made reference to this. It is easy to understand, because in any situation, even if one is the subject of sexism, it is difficult in practice to fight that fight on a daily basis and to report it every time that it occurs because sometimes it would seem trivial. I know from my own experience that a great many racist incidents simply go unreported and far too many are shrugged off or sometimes dismissed with "banter", which is a catchall word. It is exactly the same with sexism. Incidents seem minor, but if one is subject to racism on a daily, weekly or monthly basis it is very difficult to fight that fight and to report such incidents every time they occur.
An incident which took place last year highlighted the type of racial abuse that people have to endure all too regularly. The woman in question, Úna-Minh Kavanagh, who spoke about the incident on her blog and to the media thereafter, was waiting for a friend outside a hotel on Parnell Street when she noticed a group of about seven teenagers walking towards her. As they passed her, one of them shouted a racial term at her and then one of the youths grabbed her face and spat at her. It was a dreadful experience for her. During the months that followed, she documented online the process of reporting it to the Garda and how it dealt with it. All told, the experience is something that I would not want anyone to go through, and nobody should go through it, but I applaud Ms Kavanagh for her bravery in reporting it, and then speaking about it so honestly and openly. It highlights again how difficult it is to deal with such incidents as an individual.
The motion singles out the excellent work of the Garda Racial, Intercultural & Diversity Office, and I wholeheartedly agree. Although we are in financially difficult times, I can only hope that the resources that this office needs are kept in place so that the job it does remains effective. I hope also that the data collection of the Irish Network Against Racism can continue, along with the quarterly publication of iReport.ie. Many people across the country are playing their part in combatting racism, and it all starts with individuals like us having the courage to start a conversation when a racist remark is passed, saying: "Hang on. Why would you say such a thing?" We need to fight that fight with each occurrence.
Further, the motion calls on the Minister for Justice and Equality to review the Prohibition of Incitement to Hatred Act 1989 - Senator Ó Clochartaigh has referred to this - in order to introduce provisions to deal with racist crimes including definitions of 'racial hatred' and to consider ratification of European Conventions on Cyber Crime to ensure a robust response to online racism. These are modest proposals with realistic and achievable aims which should be looked at by the Minister over the coming weeks. I again commend the Senators in whose names the motion is tabled on raising the issue and thank the Minister. I know that we on this side have a counter motion, but I gather that it is practically identical.