European Year Against Racism
1997 was designated European year Against Racism by
the European Council of Ministers and members states. In Ireland a
National Coordinating Committee of government departments/agencies and
non government organisations was established by the Department of
Equality and Law Reform. A key aim of the Year was the development of
sustainable policies to address racism particularly at national level.
There were a wide range of outcomes from the 1997,
European Year against Racism which are relevant to the work of the
national Consultative Committee. These include a range of initiatives
in relation to the racism experienced by Refugees and asylum seekers,
Travellers and other Black and minority ethnic groups In Ireland. The
National Committee established to coordinate the year developed a
number of strategic programmes on Education; the Workplace; Women; the
Strategic Management Initiative/National Anti Poverty Strategy; the
media and development aid/education. There was also a significant
North/South dimension to the Year focused on training exchange of
information and best practice and the identification of further areas
for future cooperation.
The report of 1997 European Year Against Racism is
available from Government publications, Sun Alliance Building,
Molesworth Street, Dublin 2.
In the Report of the Year by the National Coordinating Committee, four key recommendations were made:
Advisory Committee on Racism and Interculturalism
To progress the work commenced as part of the EYAR,
the National Coordinating Committee recommended, to the Department of
Justice Equality and law Reform, the establishment of an Advisory
Committee on Racism and Interculturalism with a budget to cover core
staffing, programme resourcing research and a fund for local actions.
Equality Proofing
To ensure that the needs of minority ethnic groups,
including Travellers and Black people; refugees and asylum seekers,
become mainstream concerns of government Departments, Equality and anti
poverty objectives of public policy should include a focus on anti
racism and the positive inclusion of minority ethnic groups.
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Commitments in Existing Government Policy and Legislation
The Commitments in existing government
policy, reaffirmed during the Dáil debate on racism,
on the Equality legislation, monitoring of the Task Force
Report on Travellers and the full implementation of the
Refugee Act, should be given greater urgency to prevent
further slippage in time scales.
Resources to Minority Ethnic Groups
Many minority ethnic groups receive limited funding.
The Committee recommended that existing funding programmes such as the
Community Development Programme should enhance their current support
and new programmes of support should be developed by other government
departments, where appropriate.
These recommendations will provide the basis for
some of the future work of the National Consultative Committee on
Racism and Interculturalism.
