Racist bullying of migrants in Irish schools is not being addressed by authorities

As regards your final statement: “God help the blacks and any other group that differs from the 'Irish norm'”, it seems you have an overly negative view of Ireland; a backward view, I would say. Many immigrants have been very successful in Ireland: In 2007, Rotimi Adebari became Ireland’s first black mayor, seven years after he moved to Ireland from Nigeria. The Irish Republic is no utopia, but it is a much finer place than people like you will ever admit. Prejudices still exist, but don’t they exist in Britain? Have you heard of the BNP?

From what I can gather, in 2002, Protestant numbers stood at 146,226 compared to 327,179 in 1911. A fall, yes, but not as great as your statement would suggest. Clearly, economic issues affected Protestants and Catholics (Ireland’s population in general fell for a number of years, this would have affected protestant numbers disproportionately, given they were lower to begin with). Many Protestants living near the border would have moved north of the border to avail of opportunities both economic and social. The Catholic Church’s Ne Temere decree also played a part. However, the number has been increasing since the 1990’s. The 2002 census showed Protestant numbers in the south had risen from 107,000 in 1991 to 146,226 in 2002. The 2006 Census in the Republic of Ireland showed that the numbers of people describing themselves as members of the Church of Ireland increased in every county.

As regards your second statement: ‘bullying and intimadation are par for the course for non-roman catholics in Ireland’ [sic] I think it is ridiculous, particularly in the context of 21st century Ireland. Could you please explain why a quarter of Ireland’s Presidents have been Protestant? (Compare it with the UK, where the Act of Settlement, 1701 makes it unlawful for a catholic to be the head of state; or for the head of state to be married to a catholic). In general I think your statement tells us a great deal about your attitude towards Ireland, and the weight that you might attach to certain issues.

You ask: ‘Does Sinn Fein not sound and act like a national socialist perty?’ [sic]. Well, I don’t support Sinn Fein, but the answer to your question is no. A national socialist party would be a far right party, and SF are on the left of the political spectrum. Furthermore, you will be aware that they are now the second largest party in the Northern Ireland Assembly and that they share power with the DUP; the last election seemed to go very smoothly there, so hopefully things will only get better with time.

Fine Gael was ‘born’ from the merger of Cumann na nGaedheal, the National Centre Party and the National Guard (formerly known as the ACA). However, the new party was essentially a larger version of Cumann na nGaedheal, the party created in 1923 by the Pro-Treaty leaders of the Irish Free State. Please examine the history of Cumann na nGaedheal.

@Schon: Despite their fascist affectations the Blueshirts (ACA) were not fascists in the literal meaning of the term. The ACA was formed in 1932, to, inter alia, oppose the perceived threat coming from their political opponents, the Irish Republican Army and Fianna Fáil. Maurice Manning examines the question of whether or not the Blueshirts were really fascist or merely an organization that adopted some of the external trappings of that movement, in his book: The Blueshirts. He concludes that the latter was the case. He notes that there was no desire for violence for its own sake, no extreme nationalism no innate contempt for democracy, and no anti-Semitism. In any event, it was an organization that only lasted a few years; the final membership figure in 1935 was 4,050 members. Furthermore, It has to be remembered that the word 'fascism' has overtones now that were absent in the early 1930's. Eoin O’Duffy, did see himself as a fascist, however, how does he give Ireland ‘a history of national socilaism’, do you not accept that there were many more in Britain that considered themselves fascists? Please examine the history of the British Union of Fascists and National Socialists.

It would be against their Human Rights to be sent home. In the late 60s early 70s Enoch Powell suggested giving immigrants a payment if the agreed to return to their home country and look what happened to him.

Helping them return back home might be the best solution of all.

kinvara7, sorry I haven't got back to you sooner, but I have trying to educate seanomelb with regards to Irish history. anywho... Fine Gael was born from the facist Blue Shirts, a group of ex-Irish army members that organised mass rallies styling themselves on Mussolini's Blackshirts. Eoin O'Duffy a leader of the Blue SHirts tried to create links between the IRA and Nazi politicians while Sean Russel, IRA, went to the Germans and asked for weapons and politiacal support. Membership of the Blue Shirts was for Irish nationals or that prospective mmebers must adhere to the 'Christian faith' They participated, as did the German and Italism national socialist, in street fighting with opposition polical and criminal groups. More recently you have your wonderful Snn Fien heros and their sectarian liberation army, bullies one and all. Does Sinn Fein not sound and act like a national socialist perty? Bullying and intimadation are par for the course for non-roman catholics in Ireland. Why do you think that the Protestant percentage of population fell from 25% of teh population in 1920 to less than 5% today? God help the blacks and any other group that differs from the 'Irish norm'.

Redhand... I think bullying is often the act of the frustrated, people who feel powerless but want to find someone else who is even more powerless. In this case, the statistics show that of all age groups in Ireland, it is the young who are most vehemently opposed to Mass Immigration. Can you blame them? The young, more particulary the working class youth, are constantly being told that they are worthless, that they are not equipped to take a job in their own country, that there's 50 well trained and docile foreigners ready to take any job they may go for. It would be better if the young working class took it out on their own ruling class, the ones who implemented Mass Immigration. Unfortunately, they don't, but it's perfectly predictable that the young will feel bitter. Your invocation of hundreds of years of colonial rule is just so much irrelevant nonsense and shows how out of touch you are with the reality facing young Irish people, discriminated against in their own homeland.

What is so sad about racial bullying is that Ireland for centuries has been ground zero for colonial, institutional bullying for centuries at the hands of English Protestant masters. If anything, bullying should be anathema to the Irish people with zero tolerance for those miscreants who are painfully ignorant or indifferent to their nation's history.

How does the Vatican rule Ireland?

Ireland is no longer sovereign. She has no King/Queen. She is under foreign rule as ever. Roman rule since 1172 with the assistance of the British. We still use Roman/British law. Our Barristers etc swear allegiance to the BAR London Temple city, who in turn serve Rome/Pope. We are under EU law with Germany and Vatican readying for the final take over as you all argue on here-divide and rule is working well on this article.

Yes, bullying can happen to any child, but racist bullying happens only to minorities. Can't really follow the logic trying to reduce racist bullying as "normal bullying", which does not make it easier to deal with. Worst of all are the teachers who turn a blind eye to racist slurs, and sometimes even add to the student of a minority background discomfort or ackwardness. Example: Teacher reads out claas list, but doesn't attemp to pronounce foreign name anyway remotedly to its original. Imagine to go through primary or secondary having that wierd name that noone can pronounce. The Educate Together school model and its teachers at least try to pronounce ALL students name as close as possible to the original. Hopefully with so many Irish emigrating and having more contact with other cultures they can come back more used to foreign names and cultures.

No, Kinvara7, Tibet for the Tibetans is not just about independence for the "region" (actually a nation occupied by China), it's about their opposition to the mass immigration of Han Chinese into Tibet, which threatens to obliterate their culture. The exact same thing is happening in Xingjiang to the Uighur people. I can't imagine that these two nations would struggle for independence from their oppressive neighbour, only to throw open the doors to unlimited immigration from China and India, say.