The full text of the Dail statements on combatting racism from this morning has now been published https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/2020-06-17/2/

Some highlights for me... The thread that follows is not a comment on any one political party, but an illustration of how little awareness there is amongst TDs in general that the solutions are already sitting on their desks, to address schools, social media, legal change etc.

Charles J Flanagan, Minister for Justice and Equality"We need to face up to the fact that racism does occur in Ireland. We need to understand better how prevalent it is and what its impacts are, and we need to generate effective strategies for tackling it. "

You might be surprised to know that the Minister has been the addressee of many hundreds of reports on racism as well as effective proposals to address it, as well as the recipient of many urgent recommendations from UN bodies to do so.

The Minister asserts: "The sad fact is that a small minority of persons in Ireland subject others to abuse or attack due to their own prejudice or intolerance.", but fails to address the institutional racism which his own govt and dept perpetrates in failing to address it.

The Minister lauds a very new Garda Diversity Strategy. The Strategy, by the way, follows more than a decade of failing to address Garda racism and his Department still does not move to outlaw racial profiling (as recommended by UN CERD).

The Minister does not mention the absent National Action Plan Against Racism, which international bodies and every NGO supporting minorities & migrants in this country have been begging for since the last lapsed in 2008. He knows the 'Migrant Integration Plan' does not suffice.

Dep Jim O'Callaghan (FF) bemoans the impact of 'globalisation' and 'social media', but does not mention the repeated calls for government to act to put pressure on social media companies using Ireland as their EMEA base to address hate online.

Neither does Dep Niall Collins (Labour), though he at least mentions that the social media companies are "simply not equipped or not prepared to deal with the prevalence and the spread of racism".

Deputy Christopher O'Sullivan (FF) rushes to "praise the incoming hate speech legislation", although as the consultation is just concluded, and no-one outside the Dept of Justice knows what that will entail, I wonder what he knows that we don't.... if anything at all.

H/t to O'Sullivan though, he's the first to say "It is easy to talk about the evils of racism as being over there, all the way over in America, but here in Ireland we need to search our own hearts. Prejudice is deeply rooted in all of us."

Deputy Martin Kenny (SF) seriously addresses the question of attitude formation, mentioning schools and social media, but still no mention of the measures that can be put in place to make social media companies responsive to hate speech on their own platforms.

Deputy Eoin O'Broin (SF) points out that TDs can turn to the Irish Network Against Racism's new online resource, entitled "10 Things You Can Do About Racism in Ireland". It would be wonderful if TDs read it, but it's a bit like politicians kneeling at Black Lives Matter events.

TDs have the power to change policy and legislation, and the information and support to do so effectively, while the rest of Ireland does not. If TDs expect the public to do the learning, the least they can do is use their policymaking power to support it.

Deputy Chris Andrews (FF) says "We must continue to educate ourselves, campaign, donate, sign petitions and get involved in politics and advocacy long after the hashtag ends." One can only hope he is addressing his comments to the TDs in the Dail today.

Deputy Joe O'Brien (Green) notes for the record that some TDs have used racism to get into the House (Dail), and that recently "a Deputy used it in a parliamentary question in order to get attention".

He goes on to call on his fellow TDs "When we knock on doors and racism appears to us we need to challenge it and put a check on it." The Deputy is of course aware, like many of us, of parties now in government using it themselves on doorsteps in #GE2020.

Deputy Aodhan O'Riordan (Labour) follows up with "it is deeply disappointing when people in this House use racism, fear and language to punch down." "We have Deputies in this House who have said that asylum seekers are freeloaders, blackguards and hoodlums, that asylum seekers...

...need to be deprogrammed and that asylum seekers are here to sponge off the system". He does not specifically name the 2 Deputies in FG with their anti-Traveller literature at previous elections, but he doesn't need to.

I'm really enjoying this particular statement. Finally we are getting to the heart of the matter.
The Deputy adds: "We need to call out the hypocrisy of standing in a Parliament like this full of white people and saying that racism is something other people do because it is ...

...what politicians in Ireland do. The reaction to racism among public representatives is often that he or she was not speaking for the party, and then we move on." Anyone around #GE2020 will remember the most recent case (& her re-emergence as Independent courted for govt)

O'Riordan & Deputy Catherine Murphy (Soc Dem) have clearly read the recommendations to address racism that crossed their desks. Both echo solid proposals for change, widely accepted already in Irish civil society and by UN bodies, that have not been mentioned by any Deputy so far

O'Riordan focuses on the 2004 Citizenship referendum and diverse representation, Murphy on experiences of being Black in Ireland and of Travellers, and Direct Provision. Deputy Boyd-Barrett (S-PBP) also highlights anti-Traveller racism.

Deputy Mick Barry (S-PBP) focuses on citizenship and Direct Provision, but (short on time) promises to come back to Traveller experiences at the next opportunity.

Deputy Denis Naughten (FG) focuses exclusively on sex trafficking, and failures to protect victims (as a form of racism), and describes racist abuse by the public towards victims of trafficking. It's a narrow contribution to a statement on racism, ...

and he ends with a complaint that he has previously been called a racist.
In late 2019 Naughten said he did not believe TD Noel Grealish was stoking up fear when he made comments at a public meeting in Oughterard about different categories of migrants.
A strange note to end on.

And then there is Deputy Danny Healy-Rae, who starts on a positive note about diversity in Kerry, and the horrors of Cahersiveen DP, but then turns full circle (as he accuses the Dail of doing on the Catholic religion), & rather than discussing racism (the topic of the debate)...

claims that Catholic children are not getting the same treatment as other children, and ends on the clarion call to protect "look after our own". DHR wants Catholics to carry on "without fear or favour", but he's happy to use a dogwhistle of the far-right in the chamber today.

Deputy Michael Collins (Ind) hopes that DP can be emptied to fill up rural towns suffering depopulation, but rails against BLM protests, statue removal and erasure of [white] history... "The next thing we know our books will be burned to censor our history, culture and religion."

Deputy Thomas Pringle also calls out racism by TDs, and goes on to call on government parties to start "appointing Travellers and Irish people of colour to the House to give a voice to those communities."

He sadly relates the racist myths that he hears repeated by constituents made afraid of unfairness, and adds "The most important contribution we can make is to ensure no person suffers because of what we say or do here."

The final contributions from Deputies Marian Harkin (Ind) and Catherine Connolly (Ind) were both positive, addressing schools, and the @_IHREC recommendations on racism respectively.

Today's 'statements on racism' have been eye-opening, not least because they show how little some TDs understand racism, or read the many expert submissions on racism sent to them, but also how racism continues loudly in the Dail- in the middle of a debate on racism.
What a day.