The Government has announced Dr Ebun Joseph as Special Rapporteur for the National Plan Against Racism (NAPAR) which was published over a year ago.
Dr Joseph is a Nigerian-Irish lecturer, who founded the first Black Studies University module in Ireland.
She will chair an Advisory Group on Racism and Racial Equality, which will facilitate evidence-based implementation of the action plan.
The National Plan Against Racism aims to make Ireland a place in which the impacts of racism are fully acknowledged and actively addressed.
The advisory group will assist in the ongoing implementation of the plan.
In her role as Special Rapporteur, Dr Joseph will monitor progress towards the objectives of the NAPAR.
The Special Rapporteur may also consider matters pertaining to racial equality more broadly, and will have the authority to request information and data from public bodies to support them in carrying out the role.
Dr Joseph will make an annual report to the Minister for Integration, and this report will also be submitted to the relevant Oireachtas Committee.
Meanwhile, the Director of the Irish Network Against Racism (INAR), Shane O’Curry, has said that migrants in Ireland are reporting not feeling safe across the board in all areas of life.
Mr O’Curry, who is also a member of the Advisory Group on Racism and Racial Equality, said that since 2023 and the surge in far right protests, the mainstreaming of the far right discourse has almost unleashed a form of permission to behave in appalling ways towards individuals.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, he said that this includes attacks both physically and verbally, including death threats and the murder of a man speaking Croatian in Dublin.
He said that there was a lot of the national action plan that had not been actioned yet and that with the new committees being set up, the INAR would be hopeful for the future.
However, he said that it will be making demands on actions being done if improvements are not seen.
