Ireland records increase in racist and anti-Semitic acts

07 November 2005

November 07, 2005

The Irish National Consultative Committee on Racism and Interculturalism (NCCRI) has reported that verbal and physical attacks on non-nationals are on the rise and that the number of racist incidents recorded in the first six months of this year has increased dramatically. The Committee revealed that it had received 81 complaints between January and June this year, compared with 70 between May and October 2004. "There was a significant number of anti-Semitic incidents earlier in the year, specifically graffiti," NCCRI director Philip Watt told the media on Sunday. 24 acts were recorded this year alone. There has also been a rise in the number of assaults targeted against the Islamic community. Young men aged between 16 and 23 were the biggest perpetrators, the Committee said. But racism in Ireland was not generally on the rise, Watt said. A number of incidents were "once-off", and the country was still better off compared to other European nations.