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	There has been &quot;an alarming&quot; increase in reported incidents of racism in Sligo.</h2>
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		A new reporting service was set up earlier this year.</p>
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		Two incidents were reported in June, four in July.</p>
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		And up to August 22nd, nine incidents were recorded.</p>
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		These included alleged assault, refusal to access services, discrimination, verbal abuse and refusal to provide accommodation.</p>
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		Service manager Deo Ladislas Ndakengerwa said: &quot;It&#39;s worrying and alarming to see an increase of this size in a small city like Sligo.&quot;</p>
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		&quot;There are far more incidents that people wouldn&#39;t report because of a culture of tolerating and accepting what people regard as minor incidents.</p>
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		&quot;But every big crime in history started as a small incident.&quot;</p>
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		Deo explained there were two types of racist incidents.</p>
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		He said: &quot;There is institutional racism.</p>
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		&quot;This is where institutions are discriminating against ethnic groups.&quot;</p>
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		&quot;For example, a person might be living 10 years in Ireland and hold an Irish passport but be told they are Irish on paper only.</p>
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		&quot;This affects integration because they are not see as equal members of the Sligo community.</p>
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		&quot;It&#39;s something that needs to be dealt with because it&#39;s against the Irish constitution.</p>
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		&quot;Once somebody pledges allegiance to the Irish flag, he or she is automatically as Irish as anyone born here.&quot;</p>
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		Racisim in the community involves people being harassed by neighbours and made &quot;scapegoats for the economic downturn.&quot;</p>
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		&quot;People are told if they were not here, someone else would have a job,&quot; Deo explained.</p>
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		But, he added: &quot;These people are working 12 to 15 hours for minimum wages to make ends meet.</p>
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		&quot;And they may be doing a job an Irish person would not do.</p>
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		&quot;They should be seen as a contributor to society.&quot;</p>
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		However, Deo said: &quot;The majority of Sligo people are nice.</p>
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		&quot;But it only takes one nasty person to give a bad image to the city.&quot;</p>
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		He was also full of praise for the local gardai. &quot;They are very committed to stamping out racism.&quot;</p>
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		<a href="http://www.independent.ie/regionals/sligochampion/news/racism-on-the-rise-29547303.html">http://www.independent.ie/regionals/sligochampion/news/racism-on-the-rise-29547303.html</a></p>
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