‘We don’t see people of colour in Irish politics... it’s male dominated’
Dublin’s next Lord Mayor on fighting against racism
Hazel Chu’s election comes after a video claimed her Chinese descent should make her ineligible for the role. THE soon-to-be Lord Mayor of Dublin believes her new role will be significant in the fight against racism – and she has already come under attack from those saying she should be excluded.
Ms Chu, a Green Party councillor, is set to become Dublin’s first citizen next week as part of a deal brokered with Fianna Fáil, Labour and the Social Democrats.
Cllr Chu, who is of Chinese descent, has spoken previously about experiencing racism in Ireland. Yesterday morning she woke up to a video threatening ‘war’ against her taking the mayorship.
The video, from a former journalist, cited her Chinese ethnicity as a reason for her not being able to serve as Lord Mayor. The largely negative response to the video was one of the major topics trending on Twitter in Ireland yesterday. A petition has now been launched to have the woman who posted it removed from the social media website.
These experiences of racism are not new to Ms Chu, but she hopes having someone from an ethnic minority in office will allow issues around racism and gender equality to be highlighted.
‘I would like to be able to have the opportunity to bring in different groups… from the Travelling community, National Women’s Council and also give people from various creeds, colours and backgrounds a voice. We need to be able to have a proper discussion about racism.’
Ms Chu says it is important for children to be able to see themselves in high-powered roles in order to aspire to it, whether that is in politics or other walks of life.
‘The significance [of her being Lord Mayor] I think would be massive, you ask any ten-year-old, you can’t be what you can’t see. We don’t see people of colour and different backgrounds in certain roles and our political system is dominated by males.’
Ms Chu points to women already being underrepresented in politics but those from ethnic minorities are even more so. ‘As someone who has had some first-hand experience with some of the issues, I can see why people don’t get into it. But that needs to be improved rather than have the door shut against it,’ she said.
Ms Chu, who topped the poll in the Pembroke ward in last year’s local elections, is engaged to Green Party TD for Dublin SouthCentral, Patrick Costello.
The pair were due to get married in August but postponed their wedding due to Covid-19 restrictions.
They are both voting against the Programme for Government that would lead to a historic coalition between Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Green Party. Ms Chu says the deal has ‘great wins and great losses’ but that she can’t support it because of housing, health and fiscal policies.
On balance she says the policies on housing and finance ‘would inevitably harm the most vulnerable’.
The Green Party has been accused of having an ‘identity crisis’ as members seem split on the deal, a description Ms Chu disputes. She said: ‘People mistake us for a single issue party but we’re not just about ecology, we’ve always been about social justice issues. There can’t be climate action without social justice.’
In her role as Lord Mayor, Ms Chu will have to deal with more routine matters, such as the running of the mayoral residence, the Mansion House.
Each year the Mansion House has received free beer from Guinness, a long-standing tradition sees 120 free kegs being delivered. Ms Chu is the former head of communications with Diageo – the global drinks firm that owns Guinness.
She said: ‘I don’t drink Guinness, they probably would have fired me for that line. I worked there for six years and I can pull a pint, but I was one of those terrible people that would have put Ribena in Guinness.’
The Mansion House party schedule will be greatly curtailed due to the lasting impact of Covid-19, but ‘pints will be poured at some stage I just don’t know when that will be,’ she said.
‘Coming out of Covid there will be less events, the staff at the Mansion House have always been welcoming and making sure it is the people’s house,’ she said.
‘You can’t be what you can’t see’ ‘We’re not a single issue party’