Dublin Lord Mayor Hazel Chu is fighting back against racism. Ms Chu was the subject of a tweet from Rebecca Barrett, a National Party member and wife of that party's leader, Justin Barrett. Mr Barrett is known to hold some interesting views.
Formerly of the anti-choice group Youth Defence, Mr and Mrs Barrett campaign on an anti-immigration, euro-sceptic, anti-choice platform on behalf of the National Party. Justin Barrett has spoken several times at events organised by the neo-Nazi National Democratic Party of Germany (NPD). The NPD is publicly anti-semitic. They revere Adolf Hitler and salute former Nazis.
So, when Rebecca Barrett sent her tweet, in response to Hazel Chu's remarks about being hungry, her comments need to be seen in light of what the National Party stands for.
Ms Chu, a Dubliner and Green Party member, has family origins in China. The family runs a popular Dublin restaurant.
Speaking to VIP magazine, Ms Chu said, "I would like people to remember me as not just as the first female with Chinese heritage, but for what I did for the city."
The Lord Mayor, commenting on racism, said,
"I call it out not to give it oxygen but if you're going to have the audacity to come at me, don't expect me not to call you out on it. I spent years just ignoring racists but they're still around. On screenshots/retweets of the offending stuff, be led by person targeted. Again its not about giving trolls oxygen, it's about calling them out. Saying 'we will not stand for racism!' Solidarity means a lot & my thanks for everyone showing support to me today & everyday. If you see someone racially abused please don't ignore. It's an issue for us all. Its not good enough to be not racist, we need to be anti-racist. Ireland is not a racist country".
