I was horrified to learn on recent events that attacks on Romanian refugees in the Lisburn road in Belfast have caused shockwaves across the world. But despicable as these hate crimes are, they are merely a high-profile example of a much larger problem.
The insidious spectre of racism has long haunted Ireland, north and south. For many years it was masked by the more visible evil of sectarianism, but it was always there.
For years political representatives scoffed at suggestions of far-right organisations gaining ground in Ireland & UK, despite the warning signs being all too evident.
In many ways the six counties were the perfect breeding ground for racist organisations. The societal rifts, economic deprivation and a long-standing British policy of divide and rule were already in place.
All that was required was a slight shift of focus - the allocation of a new set of hate figures.
For students of Irish history, last week's attacks, and the many before which have gone largely unremarked upon, recalled the dark days of loyalist pogroms in Belfast almost exactly 40 years ago.
Then nationalists were driven out of their homes by loyalist mobs, in Bombay Street and other areas, with tens of thousands being forced to flee. Now, while the ethnic background of those being persecuted may have changed, the pattern of behaviour has not.
Father Des Wilson, the Belfast priest who gave shelter to those burned out of their homes in 1969, sees clear parallels with the current situation.
He is also in no doubt who is ultimately to blame both then and now.
Fr Wilson says: "Almost exactly 40 years after the pogroms, we are seeing the same kind of people doing the same things - they just have a different target.
"You have people in this part of the country who want to drive people out. It was Catholics then, Romanians today. Tomorrow it could be Pakistanis.
"We are seeing politicians coming out and wringing their hands and saying how awful it is, but 40 years ago it was actually government policy to drive people out of their homes," Fr Wilson says.
"They built the willingness in people to act on their behalf and drive people out to secure the vote. They built this into our society but never tackled the problem of how to get rid of it. The only reaction one can have is of anger.
"Now people are saying Romanians are to blame, 'coming here and taking our jobs.' Well, that's exactly what they said about Catholics 40 years ago.
"There is still a sign in Belfast saying 'Irish go home.' It's not even a question of Ireland for the Irish," he says.
"If they managed to drive out the immigrants, they would turn on someone else. They always find the same old reasons.
"Having exploited the situation here, the government now wrings its hands and does nothing. They have deliberately constructed laws which look good but do nothing. The fair employment law is of some use, but in general the effect is minimal."
Recalling the pogroms of the late 1960s, Fr Wilson says: "It was reckoned that on the Falls Road on one weekend, there were 10,000 refugees streaming up the road. People on the Falls already had overcrowded houses and poor living standards.
"We got them to open the schools to take people in, but the authorities were paralysed. On this occasion (with the Romanian refugees), at least they were able to do something, but they were dealing with much smaller numbers."
According to Fr Wilson, one of the major reasons for the recent attacks is the wrong-headed notion which exists then as now that it was a Catholic/Protestant issue.
This has meant that the vast majority of efforts at peace and reconciliation were focused on these two narrow faith groups.
The reality was far more complex and, with the influx of people from different ethnic and religious backgrounds to Northern Ireland in recent years, is even more so now.
"Saying it was a Protestant/Catholic thing was an entirely false reading of the situation," he says.
"The model was out of date then and certainly is now but, because of this, the emphasis has always been on relations between those two groups.
" You have people in this part of the country who want to drive people out. It was Catholics then, Romanians today. Tomorrow it could be Pakistanis & Chinese"
"In the meantime we have seen large numbers of others such as Poles and Romanians coming here, and the situation is quite different. But most of the efforts at community relations still operate on the Catholic/Protestant model and, in fact, groups have to pursue funding on this basis. The ethnic minority groups have had nothing created which includes them."
And while the media focuses on Belfast, the scene of the latest racist atrocity, hate crimes are increasing dramatically across the six counties.
Areas such as Coleraine have seen such attacks soar in number in recent years.
John Dallat, SDLP Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for East Derry and a veteran campaigner against sectarianism and racism, says that unfortunately the attacks in Belfast were the tip of the iceberg.
"Racism has been a serious problem here in East Derry for years," says Dallat.
"It is definitely linked to sectarianism, and in in many cases it is the same people doing it. There are definite links between loyalist paramilitaries and racist groups.
"Coleraine has seen record levels of hate crime and the laws are clearly insufficient to deal with it. There does not seem to be any real penalty for people committing these crimes.
The attitude of society in general also needs to change, he believes.
"The modern police service here tends to take an academic approach to problems. Take the example of the killing of Mr McDaid recently (the Catholic community worker beaten to death by a loyalist mob in Coleraine). They try and negotiate with these people but, to my mind, to begin to negotiate with people committing hate crimes is to bestow on them an importance they are not entitled to. The place for them is in court and in jail."
DUP MLA for Belfast South Jimmy Spratt says: "There can be absolutely no justification for attacking anyone on the basis of their race or the colour of their skin.
"These kind of cowardly attacks on migrant workers do nothing other than to damage the reputation of Northern Ireland in general and south Belfast in particular."
Specifically referring to the Lisburn Road attacks, Spratt continues: "The people involved in these attacks are only a very small group of individuals and they in no way represent the views of the vast majority of people living in the Lisburn Road area or elsewhere within the city."
Yet such attacks do tend to emanate from areas such as those around Lisburn Road - economically deprived areas with mass unemployment that are often, but not exclusively, staunchly loyalist, such as the Village in south Belfast.
In the recent attacks, youths chanted neonazi slogans and gave fascist salutes.
Suggestions that Combat 18 and the BNP may have been behind the attacks, ratcheting up tensions and egging the thugs on, are not as outlandish as some appear to be saying.
Neonazi groups have long had links with loyalist paramilitaries.
Ulster Freedom Fighters mass murderer Stephen Irwin was jailed for his part in the infamous Greysteel massacre. Shortly after his release in 2000 under the Good Friday Agreement, he was seen with Combat 18 members in London giving nazi salutes at the remembrance service at the Cenotaph. While in jail he had posed for pictures with nazi regalia.
Nick Griffin and other senior members of the perfidious BNP have made numerous visits to Northern Ireland and held talks with high-ranking loyalists.
Fra Halligan of the Irish Republican Socialist Party is in no doubt that Combat 18 was having influence in Belfast.
"There was an attack on a bar in Castle street here by members of Combat 18 recently, which left a young guy with brain damage," says Halligan.
"They are making inroads. The last thing we need is Combat 18 here, but we are hearing more and more racist talk, not just in loyalist areas but nationalist areas too. People saying they can't get jobs because of immigrants. This is exploitation by the boss class - it's not the migrant workers' fault, but I fear it's going to get worse here.
"Places like the Village suffer massive deprivation and are a hunting ground for the likes of the BNP. It doesn't take much.
"There are 16, 17-year-olds saying there is no hope, no future. It's people like that these groups target. There's a lot of talking done, but we need to address the issue, not merely pay lip service to it as was done with sectarianism."
The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) logged around 700 race-related incidents in 2008 alone.
These included two attempted murders, 20 threats or conspiracy to murder, 203 woundings or assaults, 37 incidents of intimidation and 410 reports of criminal damage.
Commenting on the most recent incidents, Chief Inspector Robert Murdie says: "Police are working tirelessly within the community to try and reduce these attacks.
"Every right-thinking person should be ashamed that attacks of this nature are happening. And they are not isolated just to the Village area or the Lisburn Road area of Belfast, but unfortunately are happening right across Northern Ireland."
But Sinn Fein South Belfast District Policing Partnership member Vincent Parker accuses the PSNI of doing too little to identify and punish those responsible for hate attacks.
"The latest PSNI figures show a huge increase in racist hate crime over the past three months in south Belfast, but more worryingly, the clearance rate is only 9.9 per cent," he says.
"This has dropped from 16.7 per cent this time last year, which is also too low. The PSNI must catch and prosecute those involved in racist hate crime, and with a clearance rate of 9.9 per cent, confidence in their ability to do so is very low. It's not good enough and must be improved."
