25% of migrants suffer racism

CORK’S ugly racist underbelly was exposed yesterday as it became the first Irish city to adopt an integration strategy.

Research with ethnic minorities living on Leeside found that more than a quarter have had a family member subjected to verbal racist abuse, mostly on the streets. Some of the abuse has been physical.

All Travellers and African migrants admitted being subjected to racist incidents.

But despite the fact that almost 80% of migrants did not report the racist incidents to gardaí, the vast majority said they still want to make the city their home.

The statistics emerged as Integration Minister Conor Lenihan launched the Cork City Integration Strategy 2008-2011.

It seeks to combat racism, welcome diversity, promote interculturalism and break down some of the barriers to integration between communities.

A list of actions for a wide range of agencies — including gardaí, the HSE, educational and cultural groups — have been drawn up and will be implemented and monitored over the coming years.

They include the development of a Garda system to encourage third-party reporting of racist incidents, efforts to improve access to employment rights and English language classes, anti-racist workplace initiatives, and more ethnic displays in museums.

Denise Gormley, the strategy’s coordinator, said the level of under-reporting of racist incidents in the city was particularly worrying.

She welcomed the anti-racism and anti-discrimination actions in the plan, which she stressed are the foundations of any effective integration strategy.

“This year is European Year of Intercultural Dialogue and as integration represents one of the most important challenges to modern Irish society, this is an excellent opportunity for Cork city to strengthen its strategic focus on integration.”

The research also found that migrants are concerned about the cost of health care, and waiting times at A&E units or for specialist treatments.

Some of those surveyed said they took flights back to their country of origin to receive medical attention because of the reduced cost and waiting time.

The portrayal of migrants in the media was also raised with Travellers expressing concerns about biased coverage.

Native Irish were also interviewed during the development of the strategy.

Almost a third said they were unsure if, or simply did not believe, ethnic minorities contribute to Ireland’s economic growth.

The population of foreign nationals living in Cork has doubled since 2002.