President pleads for a tolerant society

Racism, homophobia and other “poisonous prejudices” are among the biggest problems that Irish society has to tackle, President Michael D Higgins said yesterday.

He said that “pernicious racism” and homophobia wreak havoc in many young people’s lives, leading to loneliness, isolation, exclusion, violence at the hands of others, and self-harm.

At the Union of Students in Ireland annual congress in Ballinasloe, Co Galway, President Higgins congratulated the student movement on its work with charities raising awareness of mental health and combating suicide.