‘Go back to India!’ Why are racists targeting Indians in Ireland?
- Naomi Canton
- TNN Aug 27, 2025, 12:03 IST IST
There have been multiple incidents in the past month of Indians being targeted by groups of mostly young adolescents. Authorities say the violence has been whipped up by social media even as juvenile laws make it difficult for a heavy crackdown to be launched against the perpetrators
The number of Indians who have moved to Ireland has more than tripled in the past 10 years, from about 20,000 in 2015 to over 70,000 in 2024. The community has filled roles in sectors spanning healthcare and tech to finance and pharma even as a person of Indian heritage has served as the country’s prime minister. The two countries also have shared history: like India, Ireland too had to earn its independence from the British after a hard-fought freedom movement.
But the country has appeared less welcoming of late for the Indian diaspora, which finds itself the target of a series of unprovoked, racially motivated attacks that started mid-July. The violence is being attributed mainly to young adolescents who, in at least one instance, brutally assaulted a six-year-old Indian-origin girl, telling her to “go back to India”.
But the country has appeared less welcoming of late for the Indian diaspora, which finds itself the target of a series of unprovoked, racially motivated attacks that started mid-July. The violence is being attributed mainly to young adolescents who, in at least one instance, brutally assaulted a six-year-old Indian-origin girl, telling her to “go back to India”.
