The Lord Mayor of Dublin has condemned racism as "un-Christian" after launching a joint programme with the Eastern Health Board to promote racial and refugee integration in Dublin.
The two organisations have produced booklets in the seven languages most used by asylum-seekers to provide basic information on welfare, health and housing services for people who, because of language difficulties, find it difficult to gain access to such services.
The booklets are in Vietnamese, Romanian, Serbo-Croat, Portuguese, Arabic, Russian and French. Alderman Joe Doyle said making them available to some 7,000 people in the city who needed them was "an important first step in promoting racial integration in Dublin."
He said it would take "a great deal of effort to create an integrated city, and integration is everybody's concern - integration means equality, understanding and respect between people of different social and ethnic backgrounds." His vision was of Dublin as "a welcoming city free from racism and discrimination".
"As a nation which has seen so many of our people go abroad, seeking food, shelter and a better life, we have a responsibility to consider the experiences and difficulties facing people coming into Ireland, including asylum-seekers and refugees."
The Lord Mayor strongly condemned racist leaflets which have been sent to people in the south-inner city in recent weeks. Mr Doyle said "for a nation that claims to be Christian such things are most un-Christian".
Dublin city manager Mr John Fitzgerald said it was to combat just such racist literature that "attitudes of tolerance" had to be promoted in the city.
He said there was little point in launching an initiative such as yesterday's without a proper follow-up, particularly in training the public officials who deal directly with refugees and asylum-seekers.
Counter staff in housing, health and welfare offices will be trained how do deal with people who do not have enough English to make themselves understood. Both the corporation and the health board have also committed themselves to "raising awareness of cultural diversity and the need for racial tolerance among their staff".
The £90,000 cost of the project will come from both organisations, plus the Departments of Environment and Health.
Dr Anastasia Crickley, chairwoman of the Government's Committee on Racism and Interculturalism, said the lord mayor's initiative was a "very important" example which should be followed by other local authorities, health boards and public sector bodies.