Ireland seeing a rise in racism, Taoiseach warns
The Government is pursuing hate-related legislation.
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said there has been a rise in racism in Ireland.
The Fine Gael leader said this was “very evident” from people protesting outside accommodation centres for refugees and spreading “nonsense” conspiracy theories around replacement ideology.
He added: “And then people actually using violence against people who are of a different colour or of a different ethnic background and that’s a matter of real concern.”
Mr Varadkar was responding to a question on whether he believed there was a rise of the far right in Ireland.
Garda Commissioner Drew Harris had previously said Ireland had not seen the same rise of the far right as other European countries.
Asked if he agreed, the Taoiseach said he did not want to interpret the words of the commissioner but that he “picked up” that he was referring to far-right politicians being elected to parliament or government.
Mr Varadkar said: “We’re not there yet. To the extent that we have far-right parties at all, they’re not significantly represented in the Dail.
“But we are seeing a rise in racism, that’s very evident to me.”
I see some people dismissing hate crimes as being wokeism... I totally disagree with that view of things
He said that is why the Government has a national strategy against racism and is pursuing hate crime legislation.
Mr Varadkar added: “I see some people dismissing hate crimes as being wokeism or, you know, domestic and gender-based violence as being some form of wokeism. I totally disagree with that view of things.
“You know, a murder is a serious crime and assault is a serious crime. Hate crime is a serious crime, crime against women and men that’s gender-based or sexual, these are all serious crimes and we need to treat them all seriously.”