By Finnian Cox
A recent spate of attacks in Dublin on members of the capital’s immigrant community left many members with a new sense of fear- but is it any different in Galway?
Fianna Fáil TD for the Roscommon-Galway constituency, Dr Martin Daly voiced his concerns on this recent growth in violence- he believes Irish groups have “a similar modus operandi” to groups in the UK and US.
Dr Daly is himself of Indian heritage- his mother came to Ireland to study medicine in 1954, a country that he says welcomed her with open arms.
According to Dr Daly, his interactions with migrant community groups and the Indian ambassador to Ireland revealed that his area is still a welcoming one, with very few constituents coming to him to discuss incidents.
He believes that in order to keep this peace, education is crucial.
“Ireland has traditionally been a country of emigration, and not immigration, and I think we need to educate people in the value of migrants,” said Dr Daly in an interview with Galway Pulse.
“The vast majority of people immigrating into this country are doing so legally- people who are providing essential services,” he said.
“We also have a network of highly skilled people being invited into Ireland to work in our IT and pharmaceutical sector- but also, they contribute to our society and add to our culture.”
Dr Daly is of the belief that the sudden growth of anti-migrant sentiment has been largely driven by social media, and that the same narrative and template is being used across Europe due to this.
“A lot of the terminology is the same as that which is being used in the UK, France, and Germany”, he said, adding that “It’s very well-orchestrated.”
He described the idea that migrants would choose not to come to Ireland as “concerning” due to the positive impacts of immigration.
“People need to recognise that racist language can, for some, translate into action.”
Unsurprisingly, whether migrants feel safe in Galway cannot be summarised by a simple yes or no answer.
RaisuL Sourav, the ethnic minorities officer in University of Galway’s Student Union says his experience here has been largely pleasant.
“I found that most people are very friendly and helpful”, he said, “but I have had some negative experiences”.
Originally hailing from Bangladesh, RaisuL and his wife came to Ireland so that he could research his PhD in Law. While he said that he hadn’t experienced anything violent, he has been harassed as a result of his nationality.
“I live with my wife in Westside- to be fair, most of the negative experiences have come from youths in the area,” he said.
“They have shouted out to us about India, even though I am actually from Bangladesh, and have been throwing footballs at our windows repeatedly.”
RaisuL said he initially took it as playful, due to the varying ages of those involved- however, as it continued, he began to worry and contacted their landlord.
“We didn’t really know what to do,” he said.
While RaisuL’s experiences are not as violent as some of the cases recently in the news, they nevertheless have had a negative impact on his life.
As we have seen in the capital, it begins with small incidents like these but can quickly spread like wildfire- look at the completely unprecedented Dublin Riots in 2023.
While the far-right has existed in the UK and US for a long time now, it has only reared its hateful head in Ireland in recent years, with racially motivated violence appearing to be the newest threshold broken.
Seemingly, Galway remains a safe place for migrants. However, RaisuL’s experience has lined up with Dr Daly’s emphasis on the importance of education around migration, as a way to combat this recent surge of hate.