'India Day' Celebration Postponed In Ireland Over Racist Attacks

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India Day celebrations in Ireland are postponed due to increased racist attacks on the Indian community, the Ireland India Council announced after meeting Deputy PM Simon Harris.
The India Day celebrations in Ireland have been postponed following an increase in 'racist attacks' targeting the Indian community in recent months, the Ireland India Council has said.
'We feel that the situation at the moment for holding India Day is not conducive," the cultural and trade association's co-chairman, Prashant Shukla, said after a meeting with Ireland's Deputy Prime Minister Simon Harris.
The celebrations, scheduled for Sunday, have been organised by the council in collaboration with the Irish government since 2015 and feature various cultural performances, news agency AFP reported.
Shukla said the decision to postpone the event was 'very difficult" but was taken for the 'safety" of the community.
'I completely condemn the despicable acts of violence and racism that we have seen against some members of the community in recent weeks," Harris said in a post on X after the meeting with Indian community leaders.
Earlier this month, the Indian Embassy in Dublin issued a safety warning after 'an increase in instances of physical attacks reported against Indian citizens in Ireland recently".
The Irish Embassy in New Delhi also condemned the attacks and confirmed ongoing police investigations.
Attacks On Indians In Ireland
Local media have reported several incidents of racist attacks on Indians. A six-year-old girl of Indian origin was assaulted and called racial slurs last week in southeast Ireland.
The Irish Times also reported that an Indian taxi driver was attacked with a broken bottle by two passengers in Dublin and told to 'go back to your country".
Shukla expressed worry over the rapid spread of hate on social media platforms. In an interview with Irish broadcaster RTE, he pointed to growing 'extreme right propaganda and some false perception", blaming Indian immigrants for Ireland's housing crisis.
New Date To Be Announced Later
The council said the new date for India Day, described by an Irish government website as 'one of the largest India-related events in Ireland," will be announced later.
India Day events mark India's independence from British rule on August 15 and are celebrated worldwide by the Indian diaspora. There are around 80,000 people of Indian descent in Ireland, according to various estimates — around one percent of Ireland's population.
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First Published:
August 12, 2025, 16:27 IST
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