Racist toxins flow through national bloodstream

Last Wednesday night , I received an email from someone I did not know. I thought at first that it was just a familiar piece of xenophobia (dislike or fear of the unknown, invariably foreigners), as the initial parts of the e-mail seemed to be setting up something allegedly ludicrous about Ireland.

The tenor was how people risked their lives and liberties by illegally crossing borders elsewhere in the world but how, in contrast, migrants coming to Ireland illegally were put up in five-star hotels, given thousands in walk around money, jobs, holidays, free drink in McSorley’s in Ranelagh, and late-night passes to Copperface Jacks (a Dublin nightspot frequented by nurses, gardaí, trainee barristers, other supermodels and the odd billionaire. Yes, that one).

That was the initial tenor of the e-mail. Then it got nasty.

‘‘So play today, Iraqi terrorists, Afghan dissidents, Albanian gangsters, pro-Pinochet activists, anti-Pinochet activists, Kosovan drug-smugglers, Tamil Tigers, bogus Bosnians, Rwandan mass murderers, Somali guerrillas . . . the list is endless. Everyone is welcome, including all your own wives and children."

It ends with a plea to ‘‘forward this to every Irish taxpayer you know and any TD you know’’.

On the face of it, this is just another piece of nasty, racist vulgar abuse which is commonplace on the internet. But there is an additional significance to the e-mail, which is why I am writing about it.

The e-mail came from a named person with an An Post e-mail address (eg, vincentbrowne@anpost.ie). At the bottom of the e-mail is a familiar disclaimer or warning:

‘‘Please note that any information expressed in this message or its attachments is not given or endorsed by An Post unless otherwise indicated by an authorised representative independently of this message."

This weekend, An Post announced that it had initiated disciplinary proceedings in relation to the e-mail.

There are other disclaimers and warnings at the end of the e-mail, showing that it originated in other areas of the public service and was passed along.

One of these states: ‘‘Opinions expressed in this e-mail may be personal to the author and are not necessarily the opinions of the HSE."

Below that is the following information: ‘‘While this footnote also confirms that this e-mail message has been swept for the presence of computer viruses, IDA Ireland cannot guarantee that the message or any attachment is virus-free or has not been intercepted and amended, and deny all liability for any loss and damage that may be suffered by the recipient and any person opening it."

I am not entirely easy with the prohibition on racist speech because of concerns about the principle of freedom of speech.

For instance, I think the Bible is racist. It can certainly be argued that sections of the Bible encourage not just hatred, but genocide.

Take, for instance, chapter 31 of the book of Numbers, which tells the tale of the holy war on the Midianites, waged at the behest of the Lord. They did battle against the Midian, as the Lord had commanded Moses, and killed every male (verse 7).But Moses was angry because the Israelites had allowed the women to live (verse 16). Moses then commanded his troops to kill every male child and every women who had had sex with one of the Midianites. This they did, according to the tale (verses 1619).

This and many other repulsive parts of the Bible do offer justifications for genocide. But the Bible is not banned, and I don’t think it should be - although, in my view, its influence is poisonous.

I do not want to get into the prohibition of offensive speech now, but there is a separate and, I think, even more important issue in relation to this e-mail.

It is that the state’s e-mail system is being used to propagate hateful racist material by circulating it around various state agencies and outside the state apparatus.

In my view, it is imperative that action be taken to identify those who originated and circulated the e-mail.

To assist that endeavour, I emailed Eamon Ryan, the minister responsible for An Post, and have let the European Network Against Racism Ireland have a copy of the e-mail for circulation to other organisations concerned with the entitlements and welfare of migrants here.

Incidentally, almost all the claims made in the e-mail about the favourable treatment of asylum-seekers were false.

It claimed that, if you cross the Irish border illegally, you will get - deep breath - a job (an asylum seeker is not entitled to work), a driving licence (untrue), money from social security (asylum-seekers in direct provision accommodation are entitled to €19.10 per week and €9.60 per child), food stamps (nonsense), credit cards (fantasy), subsidised rent or a loan to buy a house (they are initially accommodated in a reception centre in Dublin, and are then housed in a full-board accommodation centre including all meals, so are not entitled to rent supplement, and there is no question of loans to buy a house), free education (all children under the age of 18 have primary and secondary education, while adults are not entitled to places in state-funded third-level education, postLeaving Certificate courses or Fás courses, but are eligible for part-time English-language classes and other part-time courses provided by voluntary groups), and free healthcare (true).

But what self-respecting racist cares about the truth?