A recent attack at a school in Dublin led to riots by far-right protestors acting on disinformation about the identity of the attacker, and decrying immigration to Ireland. In the wake of the riots, Ireland has seen renewed focus on the introduction of hate crime legislation, currently being reviewed in the Seanad (the Senate of Ireland).

The Criminal Justice (Incitement to Violence or Hatred and Hate Offences) Bill 2022 aims to review existing provisions on extreme hate speech which date back to 1989. It has completed its second stage of review and is due to enter the third stage in the Oireachtas (Houses of Parliament).

Since October 2020, An Garda Síochana (the Irish police force) has been recording information on the hate-related discriminatory motivations of crimes, despite the fact that specific hate crime legislation is not yet officially in place. From these statistics, it is clear that discrimination in relation to race, ethnicity, nationality and skin colour makes up a large proportion of discrimination-based incidents that are reported to the police. According to the figures, in 2022 68% of these incidents were discriminatory based on race, ethnicity, nationality and skin colour. As a result, members of affected minority social groups such as third-country national (TCN) migrants are left feeling unsafe.

Further reading: The Coalition Against Hate Crimes has completed a thorough review of the legislation with suggested amendments. The coalition comprises civil society organisations representing groups commonly targeted by hate crimes, including minority ethnic groups, LGBTQI communities, disabled people, and others, as well as academics and researchers, work together promote meaningful reform of the law, policy and practice as it relates to hate crime in Ireland.