Judge's remarks on immigrants criticised

The majority of shopping centres in Longford would introduce a ban on "coloured" people entering their premises if a spate of shoplifting in the county did not stop, one of the county's District Court judges has said.

Longford Chamber of Commerce distanced itself from Judge John Neilan's remarks, saying that the proportion of crime carried out by the immigrant community in the county was lower than that carried out by local people.

The National Consultative Committee on Racism and Interculturalism also criticised the remarks.

Judge Neilan made his controversial comments at a recent sitting of Longford District Court, a report on which was carried in yesterday's Longford Leader. When two non-national women were brought before him on charges of shoplifting, their case was adjourned until May 6th, but not before he told them that they would be deported if they reoffended.

"There are people in this State who have worked all of their lives and they don't, in their old-age pension, have the benefits these ladies have," he said. "The majority of shopping centres in this District Court area will be putting a ban of access to coloured people if this type of behaviour does not stop . . .

"We give them dignity and respect, and the first thing they do is engage in criminal activity. All you are asked to do is conduct yourselves as any other citizen in this State. You have let your countrymen and women down, and it's just a pity that a few like you can malign so many."

Ms Coulibaly Djenena, Ballymahon Street, Longford, was charged with larceny from the Tesco store in Longford shopping centre on January 23rd. Ms Ayele Folligan, Cluain Ard, Longford, faced a similar charge. Ms Djenena is originally from the Ivory Coast and is supporting one child, while Ms Folligan, a native of Togo, is a mother of three.

The court was told that the two women had been seen putting goods into a plastic bag under a child's pushchair. Supt Martin McGuire said that Ms Djenena had paid for some items, but Ms Folligan had left the store without paying for goods. Items of cutlery were also found in Ms Djenena's handbag when she was apprehended. The value of the stolen goods was €334. Both women had been given residency in Ireland and were receiving the single-parent allowance.

Adjourning the case until May 6th, Judge Neilan said that, in the interim, he hoped to receive details of the women's backgrounds from the Department of Foreign Affairs.

The president of Longford Chamber of Commerce, Mr Seamus Butler, said that it would be "wrong to highlight shoplifting as an immigrant issue". Mr Butler is also the managing director of Butler Manufacturing Services, which produces waste-water treatment machinery, some of which is exported to Africa.

"Shoplifting is a problem all over the country, but it's not limited to the immigrant population," he said. "We may have had some incidents, but that is mainly because we have a lot of immigrants living here because Longford is an attractive base, cost-wise. But, proportionately, there is not a greater problem among the immigrant community."

He added: "One garda here said recently that if there was the same level of trouble from some of the locals as there is from immigrants, we'd have less problems all over."

The National Consultative Committee on Racism and Interculturalism said that Judge Neilan should withdraw his comments. It pointed out that it was not in the judge's power to threaten the deportation of people "in such an arbitrary fashion". The director of the NCCRI, Mr Philip Watt, said it was disappointing that people who had a leading role in Irish society could express such views.