Foreign delivery men subjected to racist beatings

TAKE-AWAY delivery men are being called out to false addresses and subjected to racist beatings, it emerged yesterday.

There have been more than a half dozen such attacks in Dublin over the Christmas period, according to Labour Party councillor Aodhan O’Riordain.

“What they’re doing is ringing up, giving false addresses, realising the delivery men are going to be non-nationals and then giving them a hiding,” he said.

“It doesn’t even seem to be money-orientated, it’s just a sick way of getting their kicks,” he added.

In one recent case, a foreign delivery man was injured after being struck in the face.

“He was just sitting there crying, bleeding from the eye and wondering why this had been done to him. He couldn’t understand it,” said Mr O’Riordain.

He added that many delivery men did not report the racist attacks on them because they were afraid of their immigrant status being investigated by the authorities.

The market for take-away food from Chinese, Indian and pizza outlets has boomed in recent years due to rising incomes and time pressure.

Many of the drivers who carry out the deliveries are recently-arrived immigrants.

Gangs of youths are believed to be responsible for most of the attacks on the delivery men.

“They’re completely vulnerable and they’re going to areas they’re not familiar with.

“They’re providing a good service but what’s going to happen is that after a while, delivery companies or pizza companies are going to decide not to deliver to particular areas, which is going to stigmatise areas,” Mr O’Riordain explained.

Mr O’Riordain, who works as a teacher in Dublin’s north inner city, said local communities had to act to end the appalling behaviour.

“I would appeal to the leaders of our newest communities to be courageous and to report all such incidents to the Gardaí or to their local representatives,” he said.