Ireland’s Black community opens up about racism after ‘George Floyd moment’

Key points

• In the wake of Yves Sakila’s death following a violent restraint, many say racism in Ireland is an overlooked scourge.
• Last month, 40-year-old Emer O’Neill, a Black Irish woman, was racially insulted three times.
• Teenagers in her town south of Dublin shouted, “Go back to your country!” at her, she was rudely asked by a man whether she spoke English, and she was called the n-word at a local pub – all in the space of two weeks.
• Recommended Stories list of 1 item list 1 of 1 Hundreds protest Ireland’s ‘George Floyd moment’ end of list “I don’t have another country to go to.
• This is my country,” said O’Neill, an activist and broadcaster who in recent years has presented Dublin’s St Patrick’s Day parade for Ireland’s national television channel, RTE.