Former Ireland cricketer Kevin O’Brien has voiced his strong support for the Indian community after recent racist attacks in the country, calling the incidents “hateful” and not reflective of Irish values.
In a heartfelt message posted on social media on Tuesday, August 12, Kevin praised the contributions of Indians in Ireland and assured them that their presence is deeply appreciated. The ex-all-rounder, who retired from international cricket in 2022, stressed that such behaviour does not represent the true spirit of Ireland.
“𝑰 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒂𝒚 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒅𝒆𝒆𝒑𝒍𝒚 𝒔𝒂𝒅𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝑰 𝒂𝒎 𝒃𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒊𝒔𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒇𝒖𝒍 𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒔 𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒕 𝑰𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒂𝒏𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝑰𝒓𝒆𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒅. 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒆 𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒂𝒄𝒌𝒔 𝒅𝒐 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒓𝒆𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒘𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆. 𝑰𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒂 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒕𝒔 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝒂 𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒎𝒚 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕,” 𝑶’𝑩𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝒐𝒏 𝑿.
He further added:
“𝑰 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒓𝒆𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑰𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑰𝒓𝒆𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒉𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒐𝒐. 𝒀𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒃𝒖𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝑰𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒉 𝒔𝒐𝒄𝒊𝒆𝒕𝒚 𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒎𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒔𝒆, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒆𝒑𝒍𝒚 𝒗𝒂𝒍𝒖𝒆 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒅𝒐.”
Kevin, Irish Embassy Reaffirms Strong Ties with India
Kevin O’Brien’s video was later reposted by the Embassy of Ireland in New Delhi, accompanied by the message that the bond between both nations would remain unaffected by the actions of a small minority.
The Embassy also issued a firm statement condemning the violence, describing the attacks as an assault on Ireland’s core values.
“𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑬𝒎𝒃𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝑰𝒓𝒆𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝑵𝒆𝒘 𝑫𝒆𝒍𝒉𝒊 𝒊𝒔 𝒅𝒆𝒆𝒑𝒍𝒚 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒂𝒅𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒗𝒊𝒐𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒂𝒄𝒌𝒔 𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒕 𝑰𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝒄𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒛𝒆𝒏𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝑰𝒓𝒆𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒅. 𝑾𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒎𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒆 𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒂𝒄𝒌𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒎𝒔. 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒏 𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒂𝒖𝒍𝒕 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒗𝒂𝒍𝒖𝒆𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒆𝒒𝒖𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒖𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒅𝒊𝒈𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑰𝒓𝒆𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒅𝒔 𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒓.”
It reiterated that racism and xenophobia have no place in Irish society and emphasised that the actions of a few do not reflect the nation’s true spirit.
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