Discrimination report - Garda must recruit from minorities

AS a result of the European Union’s minorities and discrimination survey published last month, the Garda Síochána has been accused of racial discrimination, because black Africans are twice as likely to subjected to Garda stops as other members of the public.

During a 12-month period 59% of Africans were stopped in this country at least once.

This stop rate was the highest for any ethnic minority surveyed in any of the 27 EU member states during 2008. Only in Greece – where 56% of the Roma community surveyed were stopped by the police at least once in 12 months – did any minority group experience near the rate of sub-Saharan Africans in Ireland.