Judge's remarks on immigrants criticised
By Conor Lally - Irish Times 20/02/2003
The majority of shopping centres in Longford would introduce a ban on "coloured" people entering their premises if a spate of shoplifting in the county did not stop, one of the county's District Court judges has said.
Longford Chamber of Commerce distanced itself from Judge John Neilan's
remarks, saying that the proportion of crime carried out by the immigrant
community in the county was lower than that carried out by local people.
The National Consultative Committee on Racism and Interculturalism also
criticised the remarks.
Judge Neilan made his controversial comments at a recent sitting of Longford
District Court, a report on which was carried in yesterday's Longford
Leader. When two non-national women were brought before him on charges of
shoplifting, their case was adjourned until May 6th, but not before he told
them that they would be deported if they reoffended. "There are people in this State who have worked all of their lives and they
don't, in their old-age pension, have the benefits these ladies have," he
said. "The majority of shopping centres in this District Court area will be
putting a ban of access to coloured people if this type of behaviour does
not stop . . .
"We give them dignity and respect, and the first thing they do is engage in
criminal activity. All you are asked to do is conduct yourselves as any
other citizen in this State. You have let your countrymen and women down,
and it's just a pity that a few like you can malign so many."
Ms Coulibaly Djenena, Ballymahon Street, Longford, was charged with larceny
from the Tesco store in Longford shopping centre on January 23rd. Ms Ayele
Folligan, Cluain Ard, Longford, faced a similar charge. Ms Djenena is
originally from the Ivory Coast and is supporting one child, while Ms
Folligan, a native of Togo, is a mother of three.
The court was told that the two women had been seen putting goods into a
plastic bag under a child's pushchair. Supt Martin McGuire said that Ms
Djenena had paid for some items, but Ms Folligan had left the store without
paying for goods. Items of cutlery were also found in Ms Djenena's handbag
when she was apprehended. The value of the stolen goods was ?334. Both women
had been given residency in Ireland and were receiving the single-parent
allowance.
Adjourning the case until May 6th, Judge Neilan said that, in the interim,
he hoped to receive details of the women's backgrounds from the Department
of Foreign Affairs.
The president of Longford Chamber of Commerce, Mr Seamus Butler, said that
it would be "wrong to highlight shoplifting as an immigrant issue". Mr
Butler is also the managing director of Butler Manufacturing Services, which
produces waste-water treatment machinery, some of which is exported to
Africa.
"Shoplifting is a problem all over the country, but it's not limited to the
immigrant population," he said. "We may have had some incidents, but that is
mainly because we have a lot of immigrants living here because Longford is
an attractive base, cost-wise. But, proportionately, there is not a greater
problem among the immigrant community."
He added: "One garda here said recently that if there was the same level of
trouble from some of the locals as there is from immigrants, we'd have less
problems all over."
The National Consultative Committee on Racism and Interculturalism said that
Judge Neilan should withdraw his comments. It pointed out that it was not in
the judge's power to threaten the deportation of people "in such an
arbitrary fashion". The director of the NCCRI, Mr Philip Watt, said it was
disappointing that people who had a leading role in Irish society could
express such views.
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