LOCATIONS AROUND THE country are set to be lit red today in support of anti-racism charity Show Racism the Red Card.

Dublin’s Mansion House, Liberty Hall and Galway’s Spanish Arch are among those to turn red, with people encouraged to wear the same colour today to mark their support for the initiative on the aptly-named Wear Red Day.

Launching the campaign earlier this week, Dublin’s Lord Mayor Nial Ring said “racism is still a very real problem that we must continue to tackle”. 

He cited a report earlier this year from European Network Against Racism (ENAR) Ireland which said there had been 256 racist incidents reported in 2017, including 23 assaults, 35 cases of ongoing harassment and 113 cases of online hate speech in the first half of the year alone.

This was an increase on the previous year. 

Ring added: “I am proud to join this campaign and very strongly condemn this kind of abuse in Dublin, and in any other part of the country. I would ask everyone to do the same and send a clear message that the values in this country are those of inclusiveness and of tolerance.”

Fianna Fáil TD Fiona O’Loughlin has also backed the initiative. She has co-sponsored a bill in the Dáil that would provide for the courts to consider an offender’s prejudice if is deemed that an offence was aggravated by prejudice relating to colour, ethnic origin, disability, sexual orientation or transgender.

“The court will then take this into account when determining the sentence,” she said. “Ireland is behind the curve when it comes to having effective and robust legislation in place to deal with hate crimes and I would urge the government to stop dragging its heels and support the passage of this bill.”

Show Racism the Red Card is fundraising today to help its work in providing education resources, programmes and intercultural activities that support integration.

It urges people to get involved by wearing red and donating €2 by texting SRTRC to 50300.

The coordinator of Wear Red Day, Garrett Mullan, said: “A large part of this campaign is about standing in solidarity with those who have experienced racist abuse, while the other is raising funds so that we can continue our vital work of educating our young people and promoting integration.

We are hoping to have more schools, workplaces and community groups participating this year than ever before.