Students show Racism the Red Card in Tallaght Stadium
By William O'Connor
TALLAGHT Stadium played host to the annual Show Racism the Red Card (SRTRC) creative competition recently.
Minister for Children and Youth Affairs Katherine Zappone TD and Martin O’ Neill, Manager of the Republic of Ireland Senior Men’s International Team, presented awards to young people who developed creative ways to tackle racism.
Among those who were at the awards were students from St Aidan’s in Brookfield.
SRTRC is a charity that uses sports and the high profile of sportspeople to tackle racism. The organisation holds an annual creative competition, calling on young people to develop creative messages about racism and integration.
Three hundred young people from 28 youth groups, Youthreach services, and primary and secondary schools attended the awards ceremony.
Speaking at the event, Minister Zappone said: “Young voices have been the loudest in demanding full equality in every community. The Show Racism the Red Card Creative Competition allows those voices to become even louder!
“It is important that we listen and become a country which is truly equal, fair and just for all. I want to congratulate everyone who has taken part. Every piece of creativity represents another step down the road towards the country which we all desire.
Great hope
“This competition shows our young people absolutely reject division, discrimination and hate – and that gives me great hope for the future.”
At the event, Garrett Mullan, Executive Director of Show Racism the Red Card, said: “It’s great to see such a high level of creativity and passion from young people on the issue of racism, particularly in light of recent events where we’ve seen that players like Cyrus Christie continue to be subject to unacceptable racist abuse. This is a timely reminder that this is an issue that is not going away without our continued efforts, and education has a crucial role to play in countering racism.
“[This] marks the 9th year of this competition and once again we find ourselves inspired by the examples of young people prepared to take a stand against racism.”
