Ireland has been making headlines in India for troubling reasons, following a number of violent incidents targeting Indians and people of Indian descent, reports RTE.
“A six-year-old Indian-origin girl is the latest victim of racist attacks in Ireland,” reported New Delhi-based NDTV, referring to an alleged attack by older children in Co Waterford, during which she was reportedly told to “go back to India,” reports RTE.
An article in the Hindustan Times, an Indian English-language newspaper, highlights several other recent incidents, all in Dublin. These include an Indian man being slashed with a knife, another stabbed with a screwdriver, and data scientist Dr Santosh Yadav being assaulted.
“People back home in India, they are really worried,” said Sudeep Sanyal, director of the Vedic Hindu Cultural Centre Ireland, reports RTE.
“I’m here 21 years. I’ve never seen it like this,” Mr Sanyal added, reports RTE.
He said parents in India are increasingly concerned about their children coming to study in Ireland.
“People are asking, ‘How safe is it?'”
Some of the attacks appear to be motivated by racism.
Others could be random. Early on Wednesday, 6 August, Laxman Das, a chef from eastern India who has worked in Ireland for more than two decades, was assaulted and robbed while cycling to work along a canal in Dublin 6, reports RTE.
He told Prime Time that three attackers stopped his bicycle and beat him, punching and kicking him.
They “took everything,” he said, including cash, two mobile phones, and his electric bike, reports RTE.
He says the experience has left him both physically hurt and emotionally shaken.
He is currently staying at a friend’s place, saying he is too afraid to return to his own home, reports RTE.
“People are really worried,” said Mr Sanyal. “Ireland was always known as a peaceful country, a kind, loving country. But recently… there’s incidents happening regularly,” he said, reports RTE.
“I feel a lot of this is racism.”
These assaults come as public concern grows about racist abuse and violence in Ireland.
Some of the harassment has been directed at asylum seekers sleeping on the streets, with reports of verbal abuse and their tents being destroyed, reports RTE.
Certain attacks involve groups making false accusations that the victim—typically a foreign man—was involved in inappropriate behaviour.
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One such violent attack happened in June 2024 outside a supermarket on O’Connell Street in Dublin, based on false claims.
In a video posted to X, at least five people can be seen attacking a man. One voice alleges he “tried to kidnap children,” while another shouts, “kill him, kill him,” reports RTE.
The man is punched and kicked several times. A woman takes off her shoe and repeatedly hits him on the head; another person throws what looks like a cup of iced coffee in his face.
A frequent claim made by those opposing immigration—and echoed by some anti-immigration politicians—is that immigration has “destroyed” Ireland, reports RTE.
In reality, sectors like IT, construction, transport, and hospitality rely heavily on immigrant workers.
The most recent census found that Indians are the third-largest group of immigrants in Ireland. The healthcare system in particular depends significantly on Indian workers, reports RTE.
According to the 2024 nursing board register, 40% of the 89,496 registered nurses and midwives in Ireland were trained abroad. Of these, 21% were educated in India.
Ireland’s dependence on Indian nurses is growing. Between May 2023 and May 2024, only 22% of newly registered nurses were trained in Ireland, while 52% had trained in India, reports RTE.
“We would not have a health service without these wonderful Indian nurses,” said Damien Nee, a member of the Patient Representative Council at Dublin’s St James’s Hospital, reports RTE.
“We should cherish them… Most people don’t realise the extent to which our health service just would not function without these wonderful people,” Mr Nee added.
Last week, the Indian Embassy in Ireland issued a warning to its citizens, advising them to “take reasonable precautions for their personal security and avoid deserted areas, especially in odd hours,” reports RTE.
This warning has struck a chord with some long-term residents.
“I feel that a certain segment of the society don’t like me for whatever reason,” Mr Sanyal, reports RTE.
He wonders if this dislike is due to Indians like him “working here full-time, working hard, contributing to the society” or because “we are buying houses… I don’t know”.
Mr Sanyal, like many Indians in Ireland, says he now moves more cautiously and with heightened awareness, knowing that his skin colour might make him a target for some.
“I can’t hide. I’m exposed. I can’t change my colour. I’m born like this. I’ll go back to God like this… The colour of my skin should not matter. What I’m giving back to the society… is what matters, if I’m connecting with people… not how I look,” reports RTE.
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