AGPI hosts 2nd international conference on racism

The Association of Ghanaian Professionals in Ireland (AGPI) has held the 2nd international conference on racism at the Clarion Hotel in Dublin on Friday the 24th of August 2012. The theme for the conference was ‘Overcoming racial barriers and achieving full potentials’. The conference was attended by 61 delegates drawn from 18 nationalities including Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Somalia, Cameroon, Ukraine, Slovakia, Latvia, Germany, Netherlands, South Africa, Poland, Bulgaria, India, Australia, Switzerland and Ireland. In attendance was the Latvian ambassador to Ireland, H.E. Mr. Peteris Karlis Elferts and the South African Ambassador to Ireland, H. E. Jeremiah Ndou. Guest speakers included Mr James-Emmanuel Wanki, an Irish Aid Anna Lindh Fellow and an European Commission Marie Curie Fellow in Sustainable Peace building, University of Bradford, U.K, Rev Dr. Stephen Ojo- Member of the Ministerial Council on Migrant Integration, Mr James P. Evans- Solicitor and Advocate, James Evans Solicitors, Dr Fidèle Mutwarasibo, Integration Manager, Immigrant Council of Ireland and Sgt Dave McInerney from the Garda Racial, Intercultural & Diversity Office, Community Relations & Community Policing, Garda Headquarters.

In his acceptance speech, the chairperson for the event, Mr Chinedu N.Onyejelem, Managing Editor of the Metro Éireann newspaper decried the lack of political will on the part of successive governments and the Irish police force to fight racist crimes in Ireland.

Delivering his welcome address, the chairperson of AGPI, Dr Vincent Agyapong acknowledged that most indigenous Irish citizens do their very best every day by your own light to live lives free of discrimination. He said that this notwithstanding, too many destructive ideas are gaining currency in Irish society today including proclamations from prominent individuals and politicians which should fill us all with outrage.

He added that there are too many people in Ireland, both white and black, who seek to sow division for their own purposes and he encouraged the delegates to help route out racist sentiments and remain one people. He concluded his address by sharing his dream for Africans in Ireland, which include; ‘like it was the case for the USA, France and the U.K; black people would win Olympic Gold Medals for Ireland, like it is presently the case for the USA and the U.K, one day black people would be elected members of parliament and be appointed cabinet Ministers and Ambassadors and like it is presently the case for the USA, one day a black person would be elected President or Prime Minister of Ireland’.

In his speech, Rev Dr. Stephen Ojo said Ireland has lost many young and talented African sports men and women to the U.K because of a lack of opportunities for them in Ireland compared to their Irish counterparts. He said he helped to set up the NGO ‘Show racism the red card’ which aims to help combat racism in sports. Mr James Evans said there should be a move by Ireland from ‘Formal Equality’ to Substantial Equality’ which would give equal opportunity to all residents in Ireland. Dr Fidèle Mutwarasibo outlined work being done by the Immigrant Council of Ireland to help combat racism in Ireland. He said that most migrants fail to report racist crimes to the police because they are scared that coming to the attention of the police for any reason at all may affect their application for citizenship in the future. Mr James Wanki said that the story of Ireland should make it better placed to understand the experiences of people who are victims of racist crimes. He said that unfortunately, the conduct of a few citizens blights the generosity of the Irish people. He encouraged the state to ‘Read, Apply and Review’ existing research recommendations on how to tackle the problem of racism.

Sgt Dave McInerney said his outfit stood ready to assist any victim of racist crimes and encouraged people to report such crimes. He acknowledged that as long as people are categorised into certain boxes, it would be difficult to deal with the issue of racism holistically. There was a question and answer session as well as contributions from other delegates.

Mrs Belinda Agyapong, Programme Director of AGPI and Project Coordinator of the European Commission’s co-sponsored project, ‘Where the rivers meet’ was assisted by the Latvian Ambassador to present certificates of participation to the women participants from 7 nationalities who staged the play, ‘I am thinking about your dreams’ at the international social theatre festival in Valencia Spain on the 11th of May 2012. She thanked them for their commitment over the course of the last 18 months.

Mr Kwame Takyi, Director of Technical Operations of AGPI was assisted by Mr James Evans to confer an AGPI Fellowship on Mr James Wanki for his substantial contribution to towards the objectives of the association.

Closing the conference, the chairperson for the event, Mr Chinedu N.Onyejelem encouraged migrants in Ireland to stand up for their rights. He admonished them however to make sure that they uphold the laws of the land when insisting on their rights.

The MC’s for the conference were Mr Torsby Attipoe, a member of AGPI and Ms Lynda Twum-Ackah, Treasurer of AGPI.

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