Labour TD Aodhán Ó'Ríordáin says the racism directed towards Irish international Cyrus Christie should force us all to reflect on what we can do to stamp it out.
Christie joined OTB AM yesterday, and spoke about the well-publicised abuse he experienced on social media, as well as racist abuse after an Irish training session.
"Someone came up to me and it was racist whatever they said... it was a big shock. Then obviously a few of the lads refused to sign stuff because there were a few others that were there and seen it.
"I was in shock, because I didn't expect it at that time. It's one of them situations... it's not the first time, I'm sure it's not going to be the last.
"When people catch you by surprise is when it's worst. Like I said, I've had it so many times, you become accustomed to it and used to it. But you have to speak up - if you don't speak up people won't understand and they won't realise actually what is going on in this world. We can't stay silent - that's everyone."
Ó'Ríordáin says in this country we like to think our football fans wouldn't be capable of such abuse.
"I think in Ireland, we sometimes say we're the best supporters in the world and all the rest of it, but I've been made feel uncomfortable at Ireland matches when there's a guy from an opposing team that's played for Rangers, and he gets booed everytime he touches the ball.
"There's an element of that which doesn't sit easy with me. I've been at matches where people say things in the heat of the moment, and you can feel uncomfortable about it.
"This is something that has really affected other societies and other football cultures, and we have had maybe a kind of a self-satisfied view of our own support base for the Irish national team that we're the best fans in the world, that we're great craic and wherever we go, everybody loves us.
"That doesn't mean we can't look at ourselves in a very self-critical fashion."
'It was a kid - that's why it shocked me.'
Cyrus Christie on being racially abused by a child at Ireland training in Dublin, he opened up about his continued experiences of racial abuse from Irish fans while representing the country #OTBAM
Full story - https://t.co/1RrkD22PTz pic.twitter.com/92q1HMfQaw— Off The Ball (@offtheball) August 12, 2020
Ó'Ríordáin said there isn't enough diversity in Irish society generally, and that could well be having an impact on the way young people perceive minorities.
"If there is a safe space, if that child feels feels there is a safe space for him or her to say that to Cyrus Christie, well then that's all of our collective fault - that we've created this safe space for racism.
"But look, what kind of society do we live in? Sport is a reflection of society. Do we have a huge number of people in the guards who are of various different ethnic backgrounds? I don't think we do.
"Do we have enough people in politics? We don't. Do we have enough people who appear in national media? We absolutely don't. Do we have enough nurses, enough doctors? We possibly do in the medical profession but we certainly don't in teaching.
"If the role models in somebody's life are all very much of one background, and you're not exposed to diversity in people who are thought leaders or leaders in your life - be it a teacher or a guard or be it somebody on television - then there's a safe space for that kind of comment.
"There are still too many representations of Ireland in the sporting world... which are not reflective of that new Ireland. It's very unusual to come across a GAA player at inter-county level particularly who comes from a community that is different to what we're we're used to.
"What kind of outreach is being done there? What kind of outreach or pro-active anti-racism strategies are being done throughout society?"
He says there needs to be incentives put in place for sporting bodies to properly deal with the scourge of racism in Ireland.
10 September 2019; Alan Browne of Republic of Ireland celebrates with team-mates Cyrus Christie, right, and Ronan Curtis after scoring his side's first goal during the 3 International Friendly match between Republic of Ireland and Bulgaria at Aviva Stadium, Dublin. Photo by Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile"We have to link public funds to what sporting organisations are doing in this sphere. We have to say to the GAA or the FAI or the IRFU - 'You're getting state money, and what you're doing in sport is so powerful, but tell us what outreach you're doing to ensure you're not just not racist, you're actually actively anti-racist.'
"There can be a comfort zone certainly in politics for this kind of flippant remark. We get flippant remarks about Travellers all the time in politics, we get flippant remarks about migrants and asylum seekers and direct provision centres.
"Because it's not organised, we feel we have a free pass, because we don't have a mainstream political entity that is pushing this agenda, a Neo-Nazi type party.
"But it never starts there, it starts with a comment that is unchallenged, and then moves to a comfort zone, and then that becomes a narrative and a belief system.
"And then before you know it, you have a full generation of young Irish men and women, but generally young Irish men, who feel 'This country has just rejected me, this is my country, I grew up in this country, but they're telling me I'm not Irish.'
"If we allow that safe space, that comfort zone for somebody to be racist, there is a short step between that, and incidents in the States where a police officer feels there's a comfort zone for him to interact with someone from the African-American community in a more aggressive way than he would with somebody from his own community. It's a small step."
