Dublin, 12 September 2019
Ireland has a duty under international law to provide protection to those who are fleeing persecution and all those claiming asylum have a right to a fair hearing. To offer protection to members of one group over another would be clearly discriminatory and any suggestion of such practice should be strongly and widely condemned.
Everybody has the right to freedom of speech but there are limits where that speech might constitute hate speech. Public representatives should be mindful of promoting a society which is respectful of everyone. Racist speech from an elected representative can never be accepted. In light of this, ICCL calls on Deputy Grealish to immediately clarify his comments last night and if the reports of his comments are accurate to offer an immediate apology.
There is currently no appropriate law to deal with hate crime in Ireland. Recent, high-profile instances of hate crime in Galway and around the country underline the importance of our call for legislation against hate crime to be drawn up as a matter of urgency.
Sign the petition to outlaw hate crime here: https://my.uplift.ie/petitions/love-not-hate-unite-to-legislate-against-hate-crime
Join ICCL in the fight against hate! iccl.ie/join