The violence in Bradford has been described by the British Home Secretary, Mr David Blunkett, as thuggery. However, it is impossible to deny that recent violent incidents in Bradford and other north of England cities have had a racial content.
In almost all cases, tension has been heightened by activity or threatened activity on the part of the National Front, an extreme right-wing organisation which sees racist violence as a tool in achieving its neo-fascist ends. The scheduling of a National Front march was the most recent flashpoint.
Compared to events in England, the development of racism in this country is at an early stage. The most violent incidents have been the breaking of windows of shops owned by black people. The most common has been that of verbal racist abuse.
There have been no incidents of large-scale violence such as have been seen in Britain and it is of the utmost importance that such a level of racist activity should not be allowed to develop here. In this regard, it is important to recognise that, just as has been the case in Britain, racist actions in Ireland have not always been spontaneous. There are people in this country prepared to foment racial disharmony. The distribution in Dublin of leaflets of an abhorrently racist nature has been reported in this newspaper.
It is important that those tempted by racist propaganda, whether written or verbal, should know that such behaviour will not be tolerated in any civilised society. The voice of the majority of decent people needs to be heard and it is through the Government that this can be done most effectively.
In the early part of last year, the Government promised funding for an £4.5m educational programme against racism. So far, there has been no campaign and the result of this appalling lethargy has been that the semi-literate hate sheets of racist groups have had the field to themselves.
Racist incidents have increased and the good name of this country has been severely damaged abroad. It can be seen that this State is not immune to the type of violence seen in the North of England and it is the Government's duty to ensure that such a development is never reached here.
