Call for State to recruit more staff from minority groups

Special measures should be taken to recruit and retain members of minority ethnic communities to posts within the State, it was claimed today.

A new report has highlighted a widespread need for in-depth research into institutional racism in Ireland and warned the Government to acknowledge the issue.

The report, entitled Breaking Down Barriers: Tackling racism in Ireland at the level of the State and its institutions, was published by Amnesty International and the Irish Centre for Human Rights to coincide with the United Nations' designated International Day Against Racism.

Its authors, Louise Beirne and Dr Vinodh Jaichand, of the Irish Centre for Human Rights, National University of Ireland, Galway, researched the findings of a 2005 survey in which members of minority ethnic communities spoke out on their experiences in their interactions with agents of the state.

Actions to be considered include mandatory human rights and anti-racism training for all State and institutional personnel, cross-departmental action to identify and tackle racism and enforcing immediate action to review the effectiveness of sanctions for perpetrators and redress for victims in cases of racial discrimination.

All State institutions, especially those at particular risk of institutional racism such as the gardaí and the judiciary, should have an enforceable code of practice, it claimed.

Meanwhile the PSNI has released a new document detailing a new approach to dealing with hate crimes.

Hate crime was recently identified by PSNI Chief Constable Sir Hugh Orde as the biggest challenge facing his force.

The PSNI document, which is also published to coincide with International Day Against Racism, outlines minimum standards for investigations as well as guidelines on supervision and support for victims.

It includes the option of restorative cautioning which, if both parties agree, would allow for the perpetrators of hate crimes to meet their victims.

The latest PSNI figures reveal there were 763 racial incidents between April last year and January, an increase of 73 on the previous year.

The Lord Mayor of Belfast Councillor Wallace Browne today called for all possible steps to be taken to tackle the growing problem of racist attacks in the city.

Lord Mayor said: "Belfast City Council unanimously condemns recent racist attacks in the city and rejects all manifestations of racism including insults, threats and physical violence against ethnic minority members of our community".

The Council of Europe's European Commission against Racism and Intolerance today said: "It was a cause of concern that 40 years after the UN designated this day for the elimination of racial discrimination, we continue to be confronted by it in all spheres of our society."

The Council said recent reports by EU organizations have reconfirmed that many minority communities are still subject to various forms of racism, racial discrimination, and racist violence.

"We need effective and proportionate measures to tackle all manifestations of racism. In many states, the legislative framework against racial discrimination or violence is not yet in place, in others it still requires implementation," it said.

The UN's International Day Against Racism coincides with Intercultural week in Ireland - an all-island initiative co-ordinated by the National Consultative Committee on Racism and Interculturalism (NCCRI) and the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland (ECNI).

Several events including the Kurdish New Year and an Intercultural Ethnics Foods Day have been organised to celebrate cultural diversity in Ireland.

Additional reporting PA