Galway City Council stands against racism and hate speech, in line with our Dignity at Work policy and Code of Conduct for Customers and Members of the Public.
In Irish law, hate speech is any communication that is made in public with the intention or likelihood of being threatening or abusive and likely to stir up hatred against people because of their: Race; Colour; Nationality; Religion; Ethnic or national origin; Membership of the Traveller community; or Sexual orientation. The communication can be spoken, published or broadcast.
Galway City Council is committed to maintaining a workplace that encourages and supports the right to dignity at work, and aims to provide a high-quality service in an atmosphere of respect, collaboration, openness, safety and equality. Everyone is to be treated equally and respected for their individuality and diversity.
The Code of Conduct for Customers and Members of the Public advises customers of behaviour which will not be accepted in any of our facilities, or in dealings with Galway City Council including customers, elected members and members of the public. This includes disruptive behaviour, harassment by use of abusive, racist or obscene or threatening language, and use of violence or threat of violence, among other negative behaviours.
Leonard Cleary, Chief Executive, Galway City Council said, “Any form of intimidating behaviour, including harassment, hate speech, racism, and bullying, is not accepted by Galway City Council and will not be tolerated. There has been a marked increase in racist commentary on social media over recent weeks on our channels – this is unacceptable and does not reflect the mandate given by the people of Galway City in the Local Elections 2024. Galway City Council will not tolerate racism or hate speech in any form. We are proactively engaging with An Garda Síochána in this regard, and I would encourage the public to report such instances to the relevant social media platforms, Coimisiún na Meán, hotline.ie or An Garda Síochána”.
Members of the Corporate Policy Group, which represents political groupings in Galway City Council, have also expressed an anti-racism stance on behalf of their groups.
Cllr Mike Cubbard commented, “As the city of the Tribes, our merchant past shaped the fortunes of the city, with international trade and exchange a feature of the city for centuries. Our diversity is our resilience and is highly attractive to international employers, and as a welcoming tourist city. Galway City is an inclusive city, and that is how we want to keep it.”
Cllr Donal Lyons commented, “While we may not always share the same viewpoints in public life, it is important to listen to each other’s opinion and respect out differences. Intolerance and disrespect are harmful to our society, wellbeing and city. That is not what we want for Galway City – it’s a fantastic place to live, visit, or to do business and community and positive engagement are key to this.”
Cllr Clodagh Higgins commented, “"Respectful discourse is something we should all strive for. It's entirely reasonable for people to hold different opinions and to debate important issues but those conversations should never descend into abuse or intimidation. We can disagree while still treating one another with respect and I believe that's a value Galway should continue to uphold".
In relation to social media platforms, Galway City Council is proactively monitoring comments and engagement. GCC will remove comments targeting staff/ Elected Members, or content which is obscene, profane, offensive, racist, sexist/ sexual, plagiarised, personal/ private and published without consent, commercial, spam, potentially defamatory or bullying, profligating untrue information, or unrelated to the forum where it is posted.
GCC will delete, hide, and report comments/users to social media platforms, as appropriate. Users who persist in breaching GCC policy may be blocked from our social media channels. In certain instances, Galway City Council will report comments/ engagement to An Garda Síochána (for instance, a threat to harm an individual or property).
For members of the public, to report hate speech, in an emergency, call 999 or 112.
If it is not an emergency, you can report hate speech or hate crime in any of the following ways:
- At your local Garda station
- By contacting the Garda confidential phone line on 1800 666 111
- Report a hate crime on the Garda website
- Report racist or xenophobic online content on Hotline.ie
If you do not want to go to your local Garda station, you can contact the Garda National Diversity Unit, who will liaise with your local Garda station and help you during the investigation.