Irish-News-30th-August-Roundup

Irish News 30th August Roundup 2022

This is the first of a regular round up of Irish diversity news.  From time to time we will feature a different news media and look at the stories they share which feature diversity.  

Don’t be fooled by this first round up, there is very little diversity reported in the mainstream media.

To get us off with a bang, we are starting with Gay Community News, an all Ireland community paper.

This week, Gay Community News led with a story that ‘Dedicated transport police 'not needed' in wake of homophobic attack’

The National Transport Authority (NTA) has denied the need for a dedicated transport police unit after calls for increased Garda presence following a homophobic attack on a Dublin Bus last weekend.

The Irish National Transport Authority (NTA ) rejected the suggestion from the NBRU (Ireland’s National Bus and Rail Union) following a brutal homophobic attack on Dublin Bus last weekend.

26 year-old Mark Sheehan was returning home from a night out in The George on the number 15 bus in the early hours of Sunday morning. 

Mark, alongside his group of friends, was subjected to homophobic slurs before having his headphones knocked off.

When trying to get off the bus, a member of the group headbutted him, leaving him with serious facial injuries. According to Mark, the bus driver refused to call the guards and asked him to get off the bus before his attackers “come down and cause more trouble”.

“Last night, just before 4am, I was attacked on the 15 bus in Tempelogue. A group of young men sat behind me and proceeded to mock and jeer at my friends and I for the duration of the journey out of town,” he wrote.

“I used my earphones to drown them out, and when taking them off to place back in the case I heard even more insults. ‘Queer’ ‘emo freak’ ‘f****t’ to name a few. I turned around and said to act their age.”

https://gcn.ie/transport-police-homophobic-attack/

Speaking to RTÉ, a spokesperson from NTA said that a dedicated police force is unnecessary as most journeys are completed without any issues and passengers feel safe.

https://gcn.ie/transport-police-homophobic-attack/

Also in Gay Community News, Saoirse Schad told us that participants are needed for a survey on LGBTQ+ victims of domestic violence in Ireland

The topic of domestic violence amongst the LGBTQ+ community is dramatically under-researched in Ireland, with this survey seeking

to bridge the gap in our knowledge.

According to Galvin, there is currently no research on the subject, making this first-of-its-kind study all the more valuable as a tool for creating safer spaces for members of our community who face these difficult issues.

“International studies suggest that significant additional barriers are faced by LGBTQ+ victims reporting or seeking help while experiencing domestic violence or intimate partner violence when compared to cisgender heteronormative victims,” says Gavin. “It is only through recognising these barriers that steps can be taken to reduce them.”

https://gcn.ie/participants-needed-survey-lgbtq-domestic-violence-ireland/

Finally, although GCN is well worth subscribing to for its wide-ranging range of news, views and issues on LGBTQI+ in Ireland, here is one final very important story from the current issue.

Anti-LGBTQ+ far-right groups on the rise in Ireland, report finds

The study highlights that a considerable part of the extremist scene in Ireland consists of anti-LGBTQ+ and anti-trans groups.

According to a new report published by The Global Project Against Hate and Extremism (GPAHE), far-right groups that have anti-LGBTQ+ agendas have grown in recent years in Ireland. The report highlights how a considerable part of the Irish far-right extremist scene of the last six years is made up of anti-LGBTQ+ organisations.

The study on Irish Far-right Hate and Extremist Groups conducted by GPAHE and published on August 21 profiles 12 Irish extremist groups that with their beliefs and activities “demean, harass, and inspire violence against people based on their identity traits including race, religion, ethnicity, language, national or social origin, caste, gender, sexual orientation, or gender identity.”

“Far-right extremist movements inspire terrorism, mass killings, and rights-restricting policies around the world, and the various movements are increasingly interconnected,” said GPAHE president Wendy Via, “It’s critical that people, locally and globally, understand the far-right extremist landscape, how it operates, and how the dots are connected within countries and transnationally in order to counter the threats from these groups. Community safety and democracies are at risk. We hope these reports will help advocates do that.”

https://gcn.ie/anti-lgbtq-far-right-groups-in-ireland/

Subscribe to GCN here:  https://gcn.ie/subscribe-to-gcn