Few people need to be introduced to the cultural diversity of London. It is, after all, one of the most multicultural, multiracial cities on the face of the planet. According to the 1991 census there are 1.6 million people from ethnic minority groups living there. The city hosts 37 different migrant groups, all with populations of over 10,000, who were born outside the UK.
The largest of these groups is the Irish, with 213,330 first-generation Irish. There was a time when that group suffered from racial intolerance, but the Irish in London are now, by and large, a thriving, self-confident community.
Others are not so lucky. This year more than 250 unaccompanied children seeking political asylum will be accepted by the Home Office. Children of the Storm, a charity, provides aid and emotional support to these refugees and asylum seekers. Now a fully-fledged charity with National Lottery funding, Children of the Storm began life in 1989 as a response by students and teachers at Hampstead School to the growing number of refugees entering the school with no one to care for them.
"The financial aid we provide is usually for emergency stuff. For instance, a significant number of young refugees arrive unaccompanied, with only the clothes they are standing up in. We also give grants for school trips to help with integration into the life of the school," said Michael Brewin, the project's co-ordinator.
"Carrying on from the work at Hampstead School we also try to sensitise other kids in schools to refugee issues," he added.
Refugees and asylum-seekers are far from being the only people who have trouble integrating into London society. All of London's ethnic groups can and have been subjected to racist attacks.
Murder victim Stephen Lawrence was a child of one such storm. Lawrence, an 18-yearold who was studying for his A-levels in the hope of becoming an architect, was stabbed to death at a bus stop in an unprovoked racist attack in April, 1993.
When the inquiry into his murder finally opens on March 3rd Londoners will get an opportunity to see just how far they have advanced as citizens of a multi-racial society.
The police investigation into the murder of Stephen Lawrence interviewed 2,500 people. Four people were arrested and two, aged 16 and 18, were charged with his murder. In July, 1993 - in the face of massive protests from the black community - the CPS dropped charges against the two because of insufficient evidence. A private prosecution by the Lawrence family later collapsed when the evidence of a key witness was ruled inadmissible. However, an inquest jury returned a verdict of unlawful killing by five white youths in an unprovoked racist attack.
"This inquiry will not bring back Stephen and it will not put people in the dock because a number of youths have been formally acquitted," Imran Khan, the Lawrence family's solicitor, said. "For the community at large and in particular the black community, it will look at identifying the lessons to be learned for the investigation and prosecution of racially-motivated crime."
Chris Myant of the Commission for Racial Equality hopes that the inquiry will give his organisation (and others like it) an opportunity "to look closely at how successful we have been in creating an atmosphere where people can live without fear".
He believes that London has made progress in that regard. "Little by little, much too late, we're moving in the right direction," he said.
Myant sees parallels between London's past and Ireland's present, with regard to the launch in Ennis last week of the Immigration Control Platform. "In a sense this is a horrible parallel but it seems to me that it's the kind of thing we experienced with Enoch Powell in the sixties," he said.
"There's a sense that the Republic must wake up to the fact that there is an element of prejudice in Ireland and an element of patronisation - many people there remember giving pennies for `black babies' at school."
"Politicians and other public figures have to be seen to stand up and take an alternative lead. It is of very great importance that all those who are seen to be carrying the flag for public opinion carry the right flag. That includes the media."
He adds that London is no longer as tolerant of racism as it once was. Police no longer tend to tolerate openly racist marches through black areas. "Even if you can't drag people away from that ideology, there is no reason why society should tolerate the open public expression of that ideology," Myant said.
The inquiry into the murder of Stephen Lawrence will hold a yardstick up to London's progress in race relations and might also provide a few pointers for Ireland.