Black Irish Speak Out on Racism After Yves Sakila's Death

Last month, Emer O'Neill, a 40-year-old Black Irish woman, was racially abused three times in two weeks. Teenagers in a south Dublin town shouted, “Go back to your country!”; a man rudely asked if she spoke English; and at a local pub, she was called a racial slur.

“I have no other country to go back to. This is my country,” said O'Neill, an activist and presenter who once led the St. Patrick's Day parade on national broadcaster RTE.

Days later, she tearfully sang at a memorial for Yves Sakila, 35, who died on May 15 outside the Arnotts department store in central Dublin. In video captured by passersby, store security guards appeared to place a knee on his neck for over four minutes.

Sakila, an Irish citizen who immigrated from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) at age 13, has been described as “Ireland's George Floyd moment,” recalling the 2020 killing of a 46-year-old Black man by a white police officer in Minnesota, USA, which sparked nationwide protests against racism.

Sakila was suspected of shoplifting and reportedly accidentally knocked over a man while running out of the store. Police arrived and handcuffed him. When they noticed his health deteriorating, they performed CPR, but he was later pronounced dead at Dublin's Mater Hospital.

As a teenager, Sakila struggled after his foster parents separated, and at the time of his death, he was homeless. “He went into care at 16, but never got back on track. His foster mother wanted him home, but he wanted freedom,” said Lassane Ouedraogo, of the Africa Solidarity Centre, who first met Sakila five years ago. Ouedraogo called Sakila a “gentleman” he had “interesting conversations with.” “He needed help, not a death sentence.”

No arrests have been made in connection with his death. “We don't need experts to watch the video and understand how he died,” Ouedraogo said.

Following the incident, members of Ireland's minority community described a sense of denial about racism in a country proud of its anti-colonial spirit. Days before Sakila's death, former Prime Minister Bertie Ahern was recorded saying, “We can't take people from Congo and all these places,” while campaigning for the center-right Fianna Fail party. Current Prime Minister Micheal Martin – also of Fianna Fail – said he did not endorse Ahern's comments but couldn't stop someone from campaigning.

Sandrine Ndahiro, a literary critic of Black postcolonial culture and literature at Maynooth University, said she cried throughout the prayer vigil outside Arnotts. “The store stayed open for business. People walked in and out as if nothing had happened. They would have closed if a white person had died,” she said.

Zainab Obasuyi, a PhD student at Technological University Dublin, said she too has experienced racism. In secondary school, classmates shouted “Ebola la la” when they saw her. “Every time I talk about racism, I'm told, 'You're too sensitive, you're overreacting, you're misunderstanding.' Irish society is so afraid of being called racist, because that is seen as a moral failure, and they throw those words out as a shield,” said Obasuyi, 24, now a member of the non-profit advocacy group Black and Irish.

For Jackie McCarthy O'Brien, who represented Ireland in international soccer and rugby in the 1980s and 1990s, becoming the first Black woman in Ireland to play both sports, the pitch offered freedom. “The only way people didn't question my Irish identity was when I wore the green jersey. On the pitch, I was a giant. Off it, I was the black kid with the big head. Those 90 minutes were pure freedom. But when you speak up, you're seen as the angry Black woman and a troublemaker,” O'Brien said. Despite being famous across Ireland, the comments she received still sadden her. “People would tell me, 'You're not really Black,' or 'I don't see color.' But why can't they see my skin when I see their whiteness?”

O'Neill believes unconscious bias and prejudice are hard to accept because they contradict what Ireland is known for, such as solidarity with Palestine and South Africa in the past. “Small towns in Ireland have banners everywhere saying Ireland is for the Irish. Racism is no longer subtle,” Ndahiro said. In some Irish media, Sakila – a naturalized citizen – was referred to as a “Congolese man.” “Black immigrants are expected to excel and win medals to be considered Irish. Sakila's Irish citizenship was instantly stripped away,” Ndahiro said. “How can you write about feminism, human rights, and racism but not attend a protest? The same Irish people online who talk about Palestine haven't said a word about Sakila's death.”

At a recent anti-racism protest near the Irish Parliament, a small counter-demonstration called for “foreigners” to leave Ireland. A 2025 survey by the Central Statistics Office found that 49% of people of “Black Irish, Black African, and other Black backgrounds” had experienced discrimination. Mamobo Ogoro, a socio-cultural psychologist, believes Donald Trump's election as US president “emboldened the far-right, making them question immigration into Ireland.”

Today, flowers remain at the lamppost where Sakila was restrained. Initial autopsy results were inconclusive, and toxicology reports may take weeks. A second autopsy will be conducted by an independent forensic expert. The national police have referred the case to the inspectorate. Ebun Joseph, Ireland's special envoy on racism and racial equality, has called for an independent investigation. Arnotts said in a statement it is cooperating with police but has not released security camera footage to Sakila's family's lawyers. DRC Foreign Minister Therese Kayikwamba Wagner met with Irish President Catherine Connolly and the foreign and justice ministers. Former Prime Minister Bertie Ahern has not yet apologized for his remarks. “If someone in power doesn't apologize, how can you expect a racist neighbor to apologize?” Ndahiro said.