The State's advisory body on racism has welcomed the closure of a website for taxi drivers which it recently reported for carrying offensive material about immigrants in Ireland.
The National Consultative Committee on Racism and Interculturalism (NCCRI) recently reported to the Internet Service Providers' Association of Ireland (ISPAI) a forum linked from the website www.taxi.ie because it believed some of its users' comments were in breach of the Prohibition of Incitement to Hatred Act.
The forum was apparently shut down two weeks ago, after the NCCRI's intention to lodge a complaint to the Garda Síochána was made public. Philip Watt, director of the NCCRI, said the forum's closure was a "most welcome development."
His organisation had not been contacted by the site's owner and it is unclear whether the measure is permanent.
The forum is hosted in the US, which would have made it difficult for the authorities here to close it down. However, a link to the forum is provided on the homepage of www.taxi.ie, which describes itself as an independent, not for profit forum for the Irish taxi industry. This site is hosted by an Irish internet service provider which is not a member of the ISPAI and therefore not subject to the code of practice to which most in the sector subscribe.
