Tackling Racism in Northern Ireland: ‘The Race Hate Capital of Europe’

Abstract

AbstractNorthern Ireland has been dubbed by the media as the ‘race hate capital of Europe’ and attracted recent international criticism after one hundred Roma families were forced to flee their homes following racist attacks. This paper examines the problem of racism in Northern Ireland from a number of perspectives. First, it considers the effectiveness of the Government's response to racism against its Racial Equality Strategy 2005–10 using performance criteria designed to track the implementation of the strategy. Second, it considers and empirically tests the assertion in the literature that sectarianism shapes the way in which racism is reproduced and experienced. Third, it explores racism at the level of the individual – which factors influence people in Northern Ireland to exhibit racist behaviour. Finally, the paper considers the likely policy implications of the research findings in the context of devolved government where addressing racism is part of a wider political imbroglio which has gridlocked decision-making within the power-sharing Executive of Northern Ireland.