Anger at 'lazy' Roma remarks
A LEADING anti-racism group has slammed plans by Romanian nationals to launch an information campaign to help distance themselves from the Roma ethnic group.
Phillip Watt, director of the National Consultative Committee on Racism and Interculturalism (NCCRI), has described the idea as "superficial and offensive".
The condemnation comes after a member of the Romanian Community of Ireland (RCI) gave an interview to RTE Radio saying Romas were damaging the image of the greater Romanian population.
Ovidia Mathews said that many Irish are stereotyping Romanians as lazy beggars who don't want to work because a smaller group of Roma immigrants has given them a bad reputation.
As a result he has called for a media campaign to educate Irish people about the differences between the larger population of Romanians living in Ireland and the smaller ethnic Roma group.
Mr Mathews said the Roma community is damaging the image of the greater Romanian population. "You can usually see them (Roma) on the streets, sometimes begging, sometimes selling the Big Issue . . . and they were camping on an M50 roundabout . . . now there is a stereotype . . . (and) all Romanians are seen like Romas.
"Probably the most annoying thing for Romanians is that (Romas) don't have this willingness to work as ordinary citizens. Now I cannot say none of them are working, but I can say the vast majority don't want to work."
There are currently an estimated 3,000 Roma living in Ireland, about 90 per cent of whom have travelled here from Romania.
- NIAMH HORAN
