Takling on Tolerance

Dublin Unitarian Church
Lunchtime, Tuesday 6th June 2006


Shari McDaid would like to say thanks to the Justice and Peace Desk for their strong support of this project and especially to Dorene Groocock, Catherine Bates, Stephano, Patrick Coleman, Jeanne Joslin, Jennifer and Aubrey Flegg, Dennis Aylmer, Charlie and Moisie McCaw, and our caretaking team for opening up the church. Special thanks go to Carmel White for her persistent efforts on publicity, Michael Harrison for assistance with audio, Tony Brady for recording and uploading onto our website, Doireann Ni Bhriain for chairing, Doireann and Andy Pollock and Leo Sheedy for connecting us with excellent speakers, Carmel White for the leaflet, ads and summaries in Oscailt, and to Bill Darlison for providing an excellent kick-off speech and for filling in all the gaps! Finally, thanks to all who attended the talks and made our speakers feel very welcome.
Summary of Benny Attoh’s speech:
Ms. Attoh discussed began by discussing why tolerance is impossible in Ireland today. There is a stratification in Irish citizenship, in that the children of immigrants do not have the same rights as children of Irish citizens. They do not have the right to be joined by their family members.
There is also racism in Ireland, from government ministers and the media. And there is exploitation of immigrant workers. There is a question, is integration a one-way process, only for immigrants to integrate into Irish society? Integration should be a two-way process.
Currently in Ireland the government is creating segregation, rather than integration of asylum-seekers by putting them into direct provision hostels which are segregated from the community. There is also a problem with foreign qualifications not being recognised. Ms. Attoh described how her business degree from Nigeria was not recognised here and she had a difficult time being accepted into an Irish Masters programme because of this.
Ms. Attoh highlighted the comments on Ireland by the UN Committee which monitors the UN Convention on the Elimination of Racism. She also called on Ireland to ratify the convention on the protection of migrant workers. There is a need to have esteem for those who come into this country, and not to seem them as only economic units.
Summary of Monica McWilliam’s speech:
Ms. McWilliams focussed on tolerance in the context of a post-9/11 world. She looked out how tolerance is possible within the context of terrorism. Terrorism means different things to different people. In Northern Ireland, they are now in a post-violence transition and lots of things are coming out about collusion by the government such as the government spies.
There is a question for the Human Rights Commission: is the Commission concerned with how we hold the State accountable or with how we hold sub-state actors accountable?
The transformation in Northern Ireland comes from both institutional reform and transforming community relations. In Northern Ireland there has ben a lot of institutional reform, but not enough attention is being paid to the need to address community relations. For example, we need to address the unsolved and unresolved murders. There is a need for truth recovery. And there is a need to look at reparations and reconciliation.
Overall, Human Rights must be protected in any attempts to prevent terrorism. Currently the Human Rights Commission is engaged in drafting a Bill of Rights and this is very important work as the community in Northern Ireland seeks to define its own fundamental rights framework.
Finally, tolerance is about peace-building. It is more than institutions and it is more than human rights. It is about building a web of relationships that acknowledge diversity.

Questions & Answers
Question: I would be interested to know how Ireland rates in terms of women’s rights?
Ms. Attoh: Across the world, women’s rights are not given enough attention. In Africa, married women are the property of the man. Women have more rights in Ireland and African women are asking their Irish sisters for assistance. Even in Ireland, a lot of African women are still suffering in silence because if they would raise the issue they would be seen as betraying their community.
Ms. McWilliams: The Human Rights Commission is working on the issue of trafficking and putting a lot of our experience into this new global challenge, gathering testimony from women and NGO’s as part of the UK response to the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women. We hold the State responsible, so we are pro-actively seeking cases where the State hasn’t held its responsibility. Another big issue for us is women in Prison. We are currently producing a report on this issue and are seeking that psychiatry take responsibility for personality disorders so that these people don’t end up inappropriately in the prison system.
Question: Where does church tolerance come in?
Ms. Attoh: It’s not easy to go to a local church if the host community is unwelcoming. It takes boldness, confidence and determination to do it. I think the onus is on the church or the administrators to welcome immigrants. For example, I am aware of one church which has started an African mass, but this is the only one I know of.
Ms. McWilliams: The Human Rights Commission works actively with church leaders of the major churches, and also with other faith communities. I do make it a part of my work. There is a need for the Church, as an institution, to address the language that it uses and its policies and its structures.
Carmel White



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