A major anti-racism public meeting will be held at the end of this month by the Galway Anti-Racism Network.
The event will take place on Tuesday 26 November at 7.00pm in the Harbour Hotel, focusing on challenging racism in all its forms.
GARN explained that the meeting will give a platform to the people who experience racism every day and it will serve as a toolkit for Galwegians to combat racist rhetoric and hate crimes.
A resident from one of the city’s Direct Provision centres will share their experience at the meeting alongside a member of the Traveller community.
A migrant worker, a young Irish person of colour and a local Muslim speaker will also speak at the meeting.
“Our aim is to bring anti-racism back to the basics and to deliver, without any funding, a public event that will have a legacy of serving the general good in these challenging times,” a GARN spokesperson said.
Professor of Psychology in NUI Galway and member of GARN Brian Hughes, added: “This event could not happen at a more pertinent time.
“There has been a significant increase in racist rhetoric in recent months with a number of politicians unfortunately contributing to the atmosphere.
“What we hope to achieve is to normalise the idea of being anti-racist – to empower people to challenge such rhetoric in their own way and with the knowledge that there’s a support system in place around them.”
