The Council of Europe’s anti-racism body, the European Commission Against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) has called on Ireland to introduce new legislative measures punishing hate speech as “a matter of priority” – claiming that hate speech “remains widespread and that Travellers and Roma continue to face high levels of racism and discrimination.”
The ECRI has recommended that the authorities step up their efforts to encourage public figures, such as high-level officials, politicians and religious, economic and community leaders, “to take a prompt, firm and public stance against the expression of racist and LGBTI-phobic hate speech, react promptly to any such expression with strong counter-speech and alternative speech, and express solidarity with those targeted by hate speech.” It claimed that hate speech in Ireland “remains widespread.”
It said that all political parties should be encouraged to sign to the Charter of European political parties for a non-racist and inclusive society, as endorsed by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in its Resolution 2443 (2022).
“Ireland needs hate speech legislation,” the commission said as the monitoring report on Ireland was released on Tuesday. The body also produced reports on Finland and Montenegro, also released today.
A string of other recommendations are included in the report. Separately the ECRI calls for authorities to take steps towards the introduction of legislation that clearly prohibits racial profiling by police officers, as well as improving the availability and accommodation for those seeking or granted international protection (IPAS). It further backed transferring the patronage of religious schools, acknowledging in one section of the report that “challenges that may arise between religious beliefs and inclusive education practices.”
Concerning Ireland, the body, in its 44-page long report, published on 28 October, praised the launch of a new National Action Plan against racism, the preparation of a draft National LGBTQI+ Inclusion Strategy and new mechanisms for dealing with hate crime.” It also said it welcomed the adoption of measures concerning Travellers and Roma, “as well as efforts to support staff in fostering inclusiveness in schools.”
The report, which is the body’s sixth concerning Ireland, positively noted efforts “put in place to support teachers and school leaders, including training on fostering an inclusive culture in schools, as well as the ongoing implementation of the “Cineáltas: Action Plan on Bullying”.
The report notes: “In 2022, the Minister of Justice launched the Undocumented Migrant Scheme that allowed for undocumented migrants and their dependents, who fulfilled specified criteria, to apply to remain in the country and have their residency status regularised.”
The report also praised An Garda Síochána for developing a “Third-Party Referrals” process on behalf of hate crime victims and “for establishing a non-emergency online hate crime reporting mechanism.” It said it also considered the Garda National Diversity Unit (GNDU) as a good practice.
Despite these “positive” developments, the ECRI claimed that “some issues give rise to concern.”
It said that the implementation of “human rights education” in practise could vary significantly depending on schools and teachers, saying that there is a “need that it comprises mandatory topics to be covered by all schools, such as combating racism and intolerance, including against Travellers and Roma, people of African descent and LGBTI People.”
It further called for more “human and financial resources” to be directed to the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (IHREC).
‘HATE SPEECH SPANS ACROSS NEWS MEDIA’
In the report, the ECRI claimed that hate speech “spans across news media,” online platforms, and politics.”
“Hate speech spans across news media, online platforms, and politics, including recent documented examples of politicians’ reactions to events in local communities resulting in ill- informed responses, fuelling hatred and escalating tensions further. Most discriminatory content was motivated by anti-migrant, anti-Black/African, anti-refugee/asylum-seeker sentiments,” it claimed.
It further claimed: “At the same time, 2024 research has shown that harassment and hate speech against LGBTI persons is also still a reality in Ireland, with a notable deterioration in attitudes towards transgender and intersex communities and many LGBTI people feeling unsafe to express their sexual orientation or gender identity in public.
“While An Garda Síochána began publishing hate crime data on an annual basis starting from 2022, there is still a lack of disaggregated data and of systematic recording at all stages of investigation, prosecution, conviction and sentencing. ECRI is also concerned that, according to its findings during the visit, Travellers and Roma continue to face high levels of racism and discrimination across all areas of life, including education, employment, housing, and health.”
Another recommendation contained in the report is for the authorities to take steps towards “the adoption by parliament of legislative measures aimed at specifying and clearly defining in criminal law expressions of hate speech that are subject to criminal liability, in particular incitement to hatred, violence or discrimination and at ensuring that such expressions of hate speech are punishable.”
“As concerns Travellers and Roma, the authorities should take decisive action to secure the effective implementation of the National Traveller and Roma Inclusion Strategy 2024-2028 (NTRIS II) and its two-year action plans,” the ECRI said.
The report also called on Irish authorities to “take steps towards the introduction of legislation that clearly prohibits racial profiling by police officers.
As regards migrants, the report said that authorities, in close cooperation with local authorities and civil society organisations, “should take prompt and effective steps to improve the availability and quality of safe accommodation for international protection beneficiaries and applicants, including measures aimed at ensuring that LGBTI international protection beneficiaries and applicants have access to accommodation which is safe for them and in which they will not experience discrimination.”
The report notes that since the adoption of its previous report on Ireland, the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (IHREC) – established under the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission Act 2014 – “has a significantly expanded mandate.”
It pointed out that in 2017, it had a budgetary allocation of €6.5 million and an approved staffing level of 47 posts. For 2024, approximately €8.4 million were allocated to its functioning and its staff are 89 people as of 31 December 2023.
‘NEED FOR STRONGER ANTI-RACISM EDUCATION’
The ECRI further said that education in Ireland should focus more on the history of ethnic minorities. It claimed that academic research and findings from national and other international expert bodies had identified the need for stronger intercultural and anti-racism education in Ireland, and for educational curricula and teacher training to “focus more on the history and culture of ethnic minorities such as Travellers, Roma, and people of African descent, and on LGBTI equality and sex education, both for pupils and teachers who are often not prepared to or confident about dealing with these topics.”
“In the view of ECRI, this inconsistency undermines the potential for a unified and effective approach to human rights education. Similarly, outside of formal curricula, some schools opt to implement whole-school programmes and campaigns on promoting equality and fighting racism and LGBTI- phobia but this appears not to be widespread, it is offered on a voluntary basis, and schools have significant autonomy in their approach to these topics,” it said.
Relating to a 2024 visit to Ireland, the ECRI claimed that: “Privately funded primary and secondary schools promoting religious values can give preferential treatment to pupils of a particular religion. Publicly funded schools promoting religious values can also refuse to admit pupils if it is considered essential to maintain the ethos of the school. The ethos of schools can also impact the delivery of Relationship and Sexuality Education (RSE).”
Seeming to refer to the case of sacked schoolteacher Enoch Burke, it continued: “The case of a Christian evangelist teacher, who refused to use a transgender student’s pronouns and name, contrary to the school’s policy, claiming that this violates his religious rights, further illustrates challenges that may arise between religious beliefs and inclusive education practices. ECRI welcomes the school’s prompt and firm reaction to the incident.”
The ECRI said it supports efforts to transfer the patronage of religious schools.
It said: “Historically, the great majority of public primary schools in Ireland have been run by the Catholic Church, with Catholic religion classes as part of the curriculum. With changing demographics and rising demand for multidenominational primary schools in Ireland, transferring the patronage of formerly religious schools has now been considered as a viable option for providing a non-religious alternative.
“The authorities also committed to the secularisation of schooling through the establishment of new multi-denominational schools. Furthermore, the Department of Education has announced plans to survey parents nationally about schools’ patronage and ethos. In the view of ECRI, these are positive developments.”