It is a deeply sad and disturbing commentary on Ireland today that appalling incidents of violence and abuse directed at people with a different skin colour have become commonplace on our streets. Racist abuse - verbal taunting through the use of language highlighting physical differences, and frequently employing animal imagery - happens all too often in our capital city and elsewhere besides. Without exception, it occurs within earshot of its intended target and is directed specifically at them. The message is clear: if you are black, or dark skinned or appear different to a perceived west European norm, you are not wanted; get out.
With our impressive economic performance of recent years apparently set to continue (current inflation notwithstanding), and with our ever closer integration with the rest of mainland Europe, there can be little doubt but that this State will become increasingly multi-racial in the future. It follows, therefore, that such racism as is evident now will also increase. That is a trend which everyone - civil society, the Government and the institutions of State - must fight against. We are a fast-changing society and change is invariably threatening to some.
Those who choose to come here will not necessarily be poor: it is clear that even without boom-fuelled migration, Ireland will assume a more multi-racial character in years ahead: our nearest neighbour, Britain, is irreversibly a multi-racial society. Just as many relatively well-off Irish people have gone to the UK, so some people in good jobs there will be attracted to good jobs here - and those who come will not all be white. That said, the economic migration of significant numbers of people from one part of the globe to another almost always conforms to a pattern: those who migrate settle in clusters, frequently finding accommodation in already economically disadvantaged areas of the host country. The huddled Irish of the 1850s found a new life in mid-Manhattan tenements, not Westchester County. And so the effect of mass migration into this State will most likely continue to be felt in concentrated inner-city areas.
The ability of these communities to absorb such rapid change is limited and they must be helped with resources. That is the easy part: money buys a lot but not necessarily tolerance. That will take time and leadership to achieve: leadership from people of substance and influence - politicians, clerics, teachers, community gardai, social workers, sports stars, actors and entertainment personalities. Such people must speak out at every turn, saying loud and clear, that racism is wrong. And when ordinary people hear casual expressions of a racist nature, and where it is safe for them to do so, they should speak out firmly and reject the ugly assumptions that underpin such prejudice. The great majority of Irish people are not racist. They should not be afraid of showing it.