Irish actor Daryl McCormack suffers racist abuse
as result of referendum spokesperson work
The twenty year old Dublin student who effectively became the poster-boy for the defeated Seanad referendum has been subject to racist abuse because of his skin colour, it has emerged.

Daryl McCormack (20), who hails from Tipperary, appeared on televised informational adverts by the Referendum Commission, an independent body charged with informing the general public about the topic of upcoming referendums.

McCormac, who studied at Dublin Institute of Technology and is a part time model and actor, appeared in the adverts informing viewers about the upcoming referendum in both English and Irish, which he is fluent in.

The adverts were carried repeatedly on national television in the run up to the election, last Thursday, which saw the government suffer an embarrassing defeat when voters chose to retain Ireland's second electoral chamber, the Seanad.

Some family members are reported to be livid at the abuse, posted on both the actor's personal Facebook page as well as that of the Referendum Commission, while others have maintained that McCormack is a "proud Irish man" and will simply rise above the denigrating remarks.

His uncle, Gary McCormack, said that he had forewarned the young man to expect abuse given the prominence of his work.

"We sat down a number of months ago and said 'Daryl, you will be getting this type of abuse," the uncle told the Herald newspaper in Dublin.

However, it is understood that the actor, who had previously encountered racism, hasn't read the comments and has no intention of doing so.

"It's like water off a duck's back [for him," the proud uncle commented.

The Referendum Commission said that it informed McCormack of the abuse once it had been spotted, and remove, from their Facebook page, but did not deem it serious enough to warrant referring the matter to the authorities.

A spokesperson for the Integration Center, an organization promoting the integration of immigrants to Ireland as well as minority rights, branded the comments "disgraceful".

"The culprits are foolish and nothing short of racist," the organization's CEO, Kilian Forde, commented.