More than half of Irish see themselves as racist

Some 55 per cent of Irish people define themselves as "racist", but this is significantly lower than the two-thirds of Europeans who do so, a new study has found. A quarter of Irish people define themselves as "quite" or "very" racist, while a third say they are simply "a little racist".

The report, based on a poll carried out in the spring for the European Commission, found worryingly high levels of hostility to immigrants throughout the EU, most notably in response to questions about repatriation, normally only associated with the parties of the far right.

The findings were yesterday described by the Irish Commissioner for Social Affairs, Mr Padraig Flynn, as "very shocking".

The survey found that 20 per cent believed that all immigrants, legal or illegal, and their children, whether or not born in the EU, should be unconditionally repatriated (9 per cent in Ireland). Thirty-five per cent of Germans favoured unconditional repatriation of all immigrants.

And 43 per cent of EU respondents - 25 per cent of the Irish - said that unemployed, though legally established, immigrants should be sent back to their country of origin. On the latter question, the Italians, Belgians, Portuguese and Austrians all scored more than 50 per cent. In Ireland one in two favoured automatic repatriation of illegal immigrants (EU one in three).

Significantly, only 41 per cent of those who favoured wholesale repatriation identified themselves as being from the right politically, while 16 per cent said they were from the left. A significant correlation can be shown between both early school-leavers and opponents of EU accession and those who support repatriation.

Ireland is at the bottom of the European league of those wanting such measures and appears to be among the most tolerant of diversity. While only 19 per cent of Belgians and 17 per cent of Danes said they were not at all racist, 45 per cent of Irish and 58 per cent of Portuguese did so.

Some 58 per cent of Irish people said their country benefits from the presence of non-EU immigrants - the highest level in the EU (EU average 40 per cent) - but 23 per cent said Ireland would be a great deal better off without them. The least welcoming is Belgium, where 23 per cent said the country benefited and 68 per cent said it would be much better off without immigrants.

Part of the explanation for Ireland's tolerance can be seen to arise from high levels of Irish perception (58 per cent) of there being "not many" immigrants in the country. The survey shows a close correlation between life circumstances, fear of unemployment, insecurity about the future, and lack of confidence in the political system, and those who identified themselves most closely with racism.

In Belgium, for example, only one in five are satisfied with the way democracy works (Ireland 77 per cent), a reflection of its political turmoil over the last year.

High levels of cynicism about the political system were found when respondents were asked if they agreed with the following statements: "There is nothing we can do to change things in our society" - 37 per cent agreed; "Corruption among politicians is increasing" - 80 per cent; "I have little control over what is happening in the world around me" - 80 per cent; "The rich get richer, the poor get poorer" - 88 per cent. The survey found no significant differences between the attitudes of men and women.