Piaras Kelly PR - Public Relations in Ireland

I’m a bit late chipping in my 2 cents about the turban row between the Sikh community and the Garda Siochana, Ireland’s police force. I can understand the Garda Siochana’s position on the subject - when a Garda knocks on your door all you should see is the badge and nothing else that might make you feel uncomfortable, be it a turban or a crucifix. Religion has no place in the police force.

This rationale could be accepted if it weren’t for the fact that we force catholicism down the throat of anyone residing in the country. Whether it’s the angelus chiming like clockwork on RTE, the national broadcaster, or parents baptising their children just to get them into a good school despite the fact that they may not be practising catholics, the catholic church still has an influence on the State.

I was appalled last week to read the comments of Anne McDonagh, director of education at the Archdiocese of Dublin, who stated that the Archdiocese is not interested in providing an education for children of parents who are not interested in a Catholic education. Speaking to the Irish Times (subscription required), McDonagh said “We must stick to our enrolment policy of providing an education for Catholic children and siblings first. This enrolment policy has been public and unchanged since the Education Act 1998.” The comments came in the wake of an emergency school being built for 90 children who were unable to secure places in catholic schools.

When it comes to the education system one child should not be discriminated against because of their religion, just as one officer should not be distinguished from another.

Ireland is about to plunge into a multiculturalism crisis as exemplified by these two incidents. The spark that will light the fire is access to services. Irvine Welsh, author of Trainspotting, has his finger on the pulse as he is making his directorial debut with an 18-minute film in the Galway Film Festival about middle-class racism in Ireland. The play chronicles an architect competing for treatment with foreign nationals in the health service. Access to services is going to be a huge issue going forward in Ireland due to the unsustainable development in the country over the last twenty years.

Politicians’ inability to think past election term cycles has led to the situation where we’re suddenly faced with the scenario where we’re struggling to provide basic services to some of the main commuter belt towns. Towns in North Dublin such as Donabate, Malahide and Swords are comparable in terms of population size to rural cities like Waterford, Tipperary and Portlaoise, yet they don’t have the same level of services. Throw in some disproportionate population figures reflecting the ghettoisation of inner city Dublin and it’s time to watch the pot boil over as we all try to grab the same piece of the pie.

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