Dublin archbishop urges public to report racist attacks amid rise in incidents against Indian community

Irish Examiner

3 days ago

The Catholic Archbishop of Dublin, Dermot Farrell, has urged members of the public who witness racist attacks to report them to An Garda Síochána.
The archbishop spoke after a spate of attacks on members of the Indian community in Ireland in recent months.
The Indian embassy in Ireland says it has received reports of 16 attacks on members of the Indian community so far in 2025 — double the total reported last year.
On Monday, the co-chairman of the Ireland India Council, Prashant Shukla, confirmed that the India Day in Ireland festival in Dublin's Phoenix Park this weekend will be postponed amid concerns for the safety of participants.
"We are not too much concerned about the safety at the event, we are more concerned about the perception on social media," he told reporters on Monday afternoon, adding that a perception had been created that Indians had "taken over the state" and caused housing problems.
"So we want to actually balance these counter narratives, they are very, very negative. We will review the situation and we will announce new dates for India Day this year," he said.
Mr Shukla made the announcement after representatives of the Indian community met with Tánaiste Simon Harris at Government Buildings on Monday.
Speaking on Tuesday, Archbishop Farrell issued a message of support to the Indian community in Ireland.
Archbishop Farrell said many members of the community "have been invited here to Ireland to work in our essential services. They're very much integrated into our society,' he told RTÉ Radio's Morning Ireland.
'The other message I want to convey is that the community in which they live also need to support the gardaí in terms of dealing with this matter because I assume it's a small cohort of people who are making life exceedingly difficult for them when they go out into the public domain."
He said people who know the perpetrators should talk to the gardaí, identify them, and call them out so they can face prosecution.
Archbishop Farrell said there could be "no place for this behaviour in our society where people are attacked on the public streets simply because of their skin colour."
He said he regularly meets members of the Indian community in Ireland who are "looking after our loved ones, our sick relatives, and are recognised as being exceptionally good in the roles that they do.
"So we need to support them."
Archbishop Farrell said he had heard anecdotally of people from international communities experiencing racial hatred, including being spat at and shouted at on the street and on public transport.
"This sort of behaviour is just completely and utterly unacceptable," he said.
He also said that, as a community, "we need to deal with it as well as the guards can't deal with this just on their own, they need community support".
'They're writing to all of our parishes and parish councils, they're asking them to support the community and to help with them, help them particularly through this difficult time," he added.
"They also intend to write to the schools. You know, when they open now in a couple of weeks' time – because I think schools are a good place to bring about the integration of the different communities in our country, and they're doing a good job of that, but just to encourage them to continue along that line and to name what's actually happening by some elements in our society.'