(16 November 2021) Today on International Tolerance Day, Age Action, as a member of the Coalition Against Hate Crime, joined 19 other organisations, academics and individuals representing communities commonly targeted by hate crime and discrimination have called on the government to enact promised legislation against hate and to make ending hate crimes a national priority. The Oireachtas Justice Committee will hear from several of these organisations at its first hearing on the Hate Crime Bill on Wednesday.
Hate crimes are existing crimes motivated by hatred against people because of their actual or perceived membership of a particular group. They are message crimes, intended to frighten, intimidate and silence entire communities. Society as a whole suffers as a result, yet Ireland has no laws to protect our communities from these crimes.