Initiative on racism - Harmony is worth sustaining

IF SOMEONE who left this country 20 years ago returned for the first time today they would find a completely different country.

Not only would they have come back to a far more affluent place, they would discover a society made up of many different races and creeds, many different nationalities and many different cultures.

It has been a tremendous change and an evolution that, by and large, has come about without any great racial or religious tension. Thankfully, we have never had riots motivated by race or religion like those involving immigrants that have so violently and caustically divided England and France in recent years.

There has been one dreadful double murder but it seems that alcohol and unacceptable and indiscriminate violence were at the root of that tragedy rather than any racial motivation.

Maybe racial tolerance is an unspoken legacy of the great divide that caused so much pain and bitterness in this country for so many centuries. Hopefully it is a recognition, even a subliminal one, that everyone will have to get on with each other sooner or later and that maybe it’s better to start with the getting on rather than going through the bigotry and hatred first.

We should also be aware that our comparatively harmonious evolution towards a multi-racial society happened during a time of plenty and that as our economic situation deteriorates that harmony may be challenged.

Unemployment has always been a tinderbox issue in a contracting labour market — last week we reported the highest month-on-month rise in unemployment in 25 years — so there is cause for concern.

Employers will always go for the cheapest labour and as often as not that happens to be desperate migrant workers. That is why our trade unions are so concerned about the immediate regulation of agency workers.

However, we should not be so smug as to immediately give ourselves a pat on the back, imagining ourselves a completely tolerant or welcoming society, a hail-fellow-well-met nirvana of tolerance and warmth.

Certainly there are instances of racial harassment but the victims feel it unwise to pursue the matter. They may feel that the Irish authorities will not offer the protection and security they should rightly expect.

After all, our appalling rape figures — as so clearly revealed in the recent Irish Examiner/Red C poll, where so few women (a mere one in 12) report rape to the gardaí — do not inspire confidence in our justice system. That is why the Garda pilot scheme aimed at encouraging more asylum seekers and immigrants to report incidents of racial abuse is so very welcome.

Gardaí suspect that there are far more instances than are being reported. In an effort to offer support they have agreed a system that will allow those who feel they have a grievance to complain to a third party rather than go to the police straight away.

This is entirely commendable and puts a certain onus on those who would use the system and those who provide the service. Honesty and objectivity must be the principles that shape this initiative if we are to continue to enjoy a society largely free of racism.