On Tuesday, I published a piece highlighting the hypersensitivity and, one might argue, extremism of the country’s new Anti-Racism Czar, Dr. Ebun Joseph. However, Dr. Joseph’s appointment is simply a matter of personnel – most of the truly radical stuff that was announced this week is laid out in a lengthy document published by the Government called the “national plan against racism”. This document, which can be read here, outlines thirty seven individual policies which the Government intends to enact to make Ireland a less racist place.
As might be expected, many of these policies seek to place further restrictions and limitations on free speech and freedom of expression. For example, state funding of media will now be tied, under action 3.1, to “racial equality and diversity in all media programming”, which will now be a “criterion for funding”. Media organisations simply will not get taxpayer funding to make programmes for the public, in other words, unless they can demonstrate that they have an appropriate head count of people of various different races depicted on screen.
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