Bogus letters sent to barristers were part of UN racism sting
IRISH barristers have protested to a United Nations subcommittee after a sting operation apparently attempted to paint them as racist, the Irish Mail on Sunday has learned. It comes after members of a UN subcommittee sent fake job applications to the legals, one purporting to be from an African man asking if they would hire him.
The bogus job applications have prompted angry correspondence between senior members of the Law Library and a Legal & Justice Subcommittee of the United Nations.
The UN subcommittee admitted it sent the fake job applications to several barristers, one claiming to be from a white Irish woman from Dublin, the other from a black African man from Rwanda.
In correspondence seen by the MoS, it said the covert operation was an attempt to see if people of African descent were being discriminated against ‘in all walks of Irish life’.
The fakes were spotted by an eagle-eyed barrister who noted similarities between the phrasing of the two applications.
Barristers were furious at the attempted double-cross.
One told the MoS: ‘This subcommittee’s mandate is to eliminate prejudice; they should look to their own prejudice.
‘My professional body would, I’m sure, facilitate the research. It appears that someone in this subcommittee has decided that barristers are racist and this is a lazy attempt to catch us out.’
Another barrister said that, although the fake applications did not count as entrapment, they were ‘highly unorthodox’.
A representative for the UN Legal & Justice Subcommittee, describing himself as the lead researcher, wrote to a member of the Law Library to explain its behaviour.
He wrote: ‘The UN International Decade for People of African
Descent (UNIDPAD) does absolutely believe that people of African descent are a group that are discriminated against.
‘I am sorry you find the strategy employed to conduct this investigation offensive.
‘It was nothing personal.’ In response to queries from the MoS, the Bar of Ireland said it has made ‘significant and valuable inroads in building on our diversity and inclusion initiatives in recent years’.
A spokesman added: ‘In addition to focusing on race, we focus on access for those with sexual orientation, disability and those from socio-disadvantage.’
He continued: ‘The Bar is happy to engage with the important work of UNIDPAD and have indicated that to the researcher.’
The steering committee of the International Decade for People of African Descent Ireland said: ‘We affirm that any data gathering engagement with the wider community is not an effort in trickery but in furtherance of our research on the existing opportunities and challenges faced by people of African descent in Ireland.’