There has been a significant increase in hate crime here.
The number of incidents jumped by almost a third last year according to new figures from the gardai.
582 hate related incidents were reported to gardai in 2022 compared to 448 in 2021.
Some of the incidents included a young black woman being forcibly shouldered out of the way by a man.
In another a male teenager was subjected to homophobic comments and a minor assault by three teenagers.
In another case currently before the courts, an Eastern European woman in her 50s was allegedly approached by a man in his 30s and was racially abused before being punched twice in the face and kicked on the ground.
The largest number of hate related incidents were recorded in Dublin.
Of the discriminatory motives recorded, a third involved race, 22 per cent involved sexual orientation and 21 per cent were based on nationality.
A Hate Crime is any criminal offence which is perceived by the victim or any other person to, in whole or in part, be motivated by hostility or prejudice, based on actual or perceived age, disability, race, colour, nationality, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation or gender.
Assistant Commissioner Paula Hilman, whose remit includes the Garda National Diversity and Integration Unit, said "An Garda Síochána continues to have a strong focus on investigating crimes with a hate motive and supporting the victims of these crimes. An Garda Síochána recognises that hate crimes have a huge impact on victims, specifically because they are targeted because of a characteristic of who they are. These crimes also have a significant impact on wider communities and society.''
