There were 17 hate crimes and hate related incidents reported to Gardaí in Galway last year.
An Garda Síochána has published figures showing 448 hate crimes and non-criminal hate related incidents in 2021.
The most prevalent discriminatory motive was race (44%), followed by Sexual Orientation (15%) and Nationality (14%).
Hate motives were evident in a range of criminal incidents in 2021, the largest percentage being Public Order (35%), Minor Assaults (18%) and Criminal Damage (11%).
Half of all hate crimes and other incidents occurred in the Dublin Region, while 16% were in the North-Western Region, which includes Galway.
There was no breakdown of which of the incidents in Galway were crimes, or non-criminal hate related incidents.
Assistant Commissioner Paula Hilman, whose remit includes the Garda National Diversity and Integration Unit, welcomed the publication of these statistics.
“The definitions and recording practices launched in late 2020, are enabling us to gain greater insight into these discriminatory motives and respond accordingly.”
“The release of figures today is the first following the introduction of new procedures, introduced under the Garda Diversity and Integration Strategy, which have enabled the establishment of a verified baseline to be used from 2021 onwards”.
She added, “Everyone has a right to live safely. Hate crimes have a huge impact on victims, because they are targeted because of who they are, and they also have a significant impact on the wider community.”
“I want to thank that wider community, NGOs and the media for consistently highlighting the issue of hate crime, and I urge any person who has experienced or observed prejudice to come forward and report those incidents to us.”
