This year should be a watershed in Ireland's efforts to create a more intercultural society, the head of the Equality Authority, Mr Niall Crowley, has said.
Ireland will participate in the United Nations world conference against racism in Durban this summer and this "will commit us to planned and strategic initiatives to address racism and to promoting the culture and identity of minority ethnic groups", he said.
Mr Crowley was speaking yesterday, UN International Day Against Racism, as the authority hosted a briefing lunch for minority ethnic groups on the Equal Status Act, which prohibits discrimination in the market place.
According to Mr Crowley, 59 per cent of equal status complaints handled by the authority have been taken by Travellers. They concern issues such as like access to goods, leisure facilities and education. Three per cent of complaints were on racial grounds.
In relation to workplace discrimination, 11 per cent of the authority's current cases concern race and 4 per cent are being taken by Travellers.
The Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Mr O'Donoghue said his Government was "totally determined to combat any tendency towards racism and racist acts". He said the £4.5 million funding for a forthcoming three-year public awareness programme to combat racism and promote interculturalism would enable the implementation of "a comprehensive set of actions aimed at ensuring that racism does not gain a foothold in our society".
However, the Labour Party's spokesperson on equality, Ms Jan O'Sullivan, accused the Government of presiding over some draconian legislation affecting immigrants and "sitting on a pile of promised legislation" which would enhance the rights of ethnic minorities.
Meanwhile, the President, Mrs McAleese, said Irish people know what it is like to be victims of racism. "This knowledge should surely galvanise us to do our best to realise a society based on equality, justice and acceptance of cultural diversity." The National Women's Council of Ireland urged Mr O'Donoghue to ensure that the asylum process was sensitive to the experiences of women asylum-seekers.
The president of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, Ms Inez McCormack, called for "the full rigours of the law" to be used against those who discriminated against others through racist behaviour.