Racist attacks in Swords
By Michael Pierse
A young couple and their children have been victims of an
onslaught of racist attacks and intimidation in the Dublin suburb
of Swords.
Chua and Gearóid Grace have seen first hand the ugly face of
racism in the past two-and-a-half years. Chua is from Vietnam and
has been living in Ireland since 1979. The couple married in 1991
and soon settled down in a quiet cul-de-sac in Swords, where they
are now rearing their three children.
The field opposite the side of the house is a regular haunt for
teenagers of the area, who consume alcohol there at weekends. ``It
all started when someone threw a brick through the kitchen
window,'' said Gearóid. When he confronted the individual
responsible he apologised and said it was an accident. This was
the only incident for about a year, until teenagers in the field
began throwing eggs at the gable end of the house. This soon
escalated to brick throwing which mostly occurred while Gearóid
was away from home. The bathroom window of the house has been
broken on various occasions and the couple's eldest son is now
afraid to go into the room.
Subsequently the couple had to erect barriers on the side of the
house, but the harrassment did not desist. Increasingly Chua has
been subject to racist comments while walking through the
village. ``She is very distressed by this harrassment,'' Gearóid
said. ``The neighbours have been very good and have comforted Chua
while I'm away.''
Gearóid suspects 30 to 40 youths to be involved in the attacks
and he has forwarded some names to the Gardaí, who know at least
one of the youths as being involved in other anti-social
behaviour on an ongoing basis. However, they have advised him
that they cannot help unless he ``catches them in the act.''
Speaking to An Phoblacht, Gearóid said that he, Chua and her
brother approached the ringleader of the youths and asked him to
stop the attacks. This has been met with an indifferent
continuation, if not increase, in the racist activities of the
youths, whom he says are in their mid-to-late teens.
Gearóid pointed out a dent on the bathroom wall caused by a brick
that was fired through the window. The danger to his children is
obvious. The benevolent and patient man seemed to be running out
of tolerance for the ignorance of the youths. His wife has been
severely emotionally traumatised, as have his children by the
malevolence of these drunken youths. ``I don't mind them drinking
in the field, as long as they keep away from our home,'' he said.
Minister for Justice John O Donoghue last week confirmed that
there will be no amnesty for asylum seekers in Ireland. The
Government has decided on ``a more straightforward system for
removal of persons who have no permission to be in the state'', in
other words ``zero tolerance'' for asylum seekers. The 21
immigrants deported since January and the increasingly
``acceptable'' face of racism as propagated in big Irish newspapers
leaves us with the daunting emergence of racial hatred among a
people who for so long were oppressed.
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