Racism worst in Dublin centre report

Travellers and refugees living in Tallaght experience less racism than their Dublin city-centre counterparts, a new report has found. "Despite the fact that there are many problems for travellers and refugees in Tallaght, it is striking that both groups have a commitment to and an affection for the Tallaght area", it says.

The report notes that refugees in particular find a marked difference in the levels of racism they experience in the citycentre and in Tallaght. "Most refugees find the city-centre a very hostile environment and are glad to return home to Tallaght. Most travellers living in Tallaght want to stay there, even if they express a wish to adopt a more nomadic existence for part of the year."

However, the report, which was commissioned by the local travellers' support group and the refugee women's group, says that there are still problems with racism in Tallaght. "There are difficulties in terms of the reaction of the local white, settled Irish population to both travellers and refugees. There is ongoing racist hostility to both groups from some sections of the majority ethnic population in Tallaght. Moreover, there are specific problems in terms of the lack of service provided to both groups by the statutory sector."

The report, which was launched yesterday by the Minister of State for Tourism, Sport and Recreation, Mr Chris Flood, says anecdotal evidence suggests that volunteer agencies do not always treat refugees and travellers with respect. "There is a duty on the statutory sector to proactively ensure that it is not responsible for discrimination. We found little evidence of the statutory sector in Tallaght adopting this kind of proactive approach."

The report recommends that where an asylum-seeker has not received a decision within six months he or she should be allowed to work. It quotes a Russian asylum-seeker: "I have been waiting for a decision for nearly two years now. On the one hand, it's not too bad, because you are here and you are happy about that, but on the other side you can't work, you can't study, you can't offer your children any future, you can't do anything."

Mr Flood said the report highlighted the fact that travellers and refugees, if they had done something wrong, were targeted because of who they were rather than because of what they had done.