The recent incident in Carlow where a young hurler of South African origin had racist insults jeered at him while he played for his local club demonstrates the need to be ever vigilant around the notion of the prejudice that motivates such behaviour.
What seems to have occurred is that a group of teenage girls shouted abuse from the stands. There appear to be suggestions that adults were actually egging the young girls with their despi- cable line of abuse.
Thankfully the young man at the receiving end of their taunts was unperturbed by the language and continued with his game. “It’s just the usual, people are racist against my colour,” he commented after the match.
The young player’s father, while angry about the matter, stated that it does happen in other contexts. His composure is a virtue, considering that when his wife demanded that those involved stop hurling abuse at her son, he had to pull her away in tears as they turned on her. In this small story, the nasty ignorance that sometimes lies beneath the surface of our society is fully uncovered for all to see.
It came as a shock to me when a very good African friend of mine described some of the comments directed at her while travelling on the bus in Dublin when she first arrived in Ireland.
Like most immigrants, including the young man in this incident, the inclination is to let the comments go and ignore the ignorant people who make them, she said.
My African friend told me her story before I was appointed to my current position as Minister for Integration, and at the time it came as a genuine surprise that people would so brazenly taunt in a racist fashion in a public place.
Since my appointment I have heard other such stories, including some where other passengers on the bus – Irish in the main – have stood up against the person making the ignorant comments.
At Government level we have commissioned a research study on how to handle the issue of racist attacks and whether in fact they merit a separate category of offence, and stiffer penalites. Preliminary indications are that the legal people prefer that instead of a separate offence being created, existing law should be invoked but with the judge perhaps encouraged to impose increased sentences where it is clear that an attack is racially motivated.
However, it is virtually impossible to police unruly behaviour or abusive language directed at someone else. In the UK, racist songs and statements directed at Africans or players from Muslim countries have posed a huge problem for the soccer authorities.
Here in Ireland, groups like Show Racism the Red Card and Sari have taken the anti-racism message to soccer clubs and events – in Sari’s case, ably assisted by the very passionate former Ireland manager Brian Kerr.
In my own constituency, I attended a certificate award night one summer where local soccer coaches and club mentors received diversity training.
The participants who had been involved spoke quite movingly of what they had learnt. Before doing the course, which was assisted by the Football Association of Ireland (FAI), they openly admitted attitudes that were influenced by stereotypes created about non-Irish people. It was a hugely enjoyable night, given that it was so obvious what a transformation this kind of training can achieve.
That is precisely why I am currently facilitating the major sporting bodies in this country to achieve funding to do more of this kind of work at a local level.
In the meantime, the GAA’s Carlow county board are to investigate the above hurling incident with a view to imposing severe sanctions on those involved in the taunts. The GAA will give a lead in this respect.
Hopefully more ordinary citizens will stand up and be counted when they witness challenging behaviour of this kind. It is a citizen’s duty to protect our own well-earned reputation as a people. Those who use racist taunts do nothing for it. In fact, those who twist and pervert our reputation as a country do huge damage to us at this time.
Conor Lenihan TD is Minister for Integration and represents the constituency of Dublin South West, which includes Tallaght, Greenhills, Firhouse, Templeogue and Bohernabreena
