As members of the Irish community there become more eager to display "signs of their Irishness", they are encountering more hostility and racism in Scottish society, the Scottish Parliament was recently told. Although the devolved government has launched high-profile antiracism campaigns, there remains a failure to recognise the Irish as the country's largest ethnic minority, members of parliament said. Some 50,000 Irish-born people live in Scotland, while a further 100,000 people there have an Irish parent.

The issue was raised by the Labour Party's Michael McMahon, who said antiIrish racism was a growing problem in his constituency.

McMahon, whose grandparents on both sides hailed from Ireland, said that there was "a hostility towards expressions of Irishness" in Scotland today.

"Years ago, people would just keep their head down and get on with things, but today, Irishness is being expressed more confidently, " he told the Sunday Tribune.

Alongside the growing popularity of Irish language and dance classes in Scotland, the problem has also been fuelled by the decision of two high-profile Scottish-born footballers to declare for Ireland. Highly-rated James McCarthy (16) recently followed in the footsteps of Celtic's Aiden McGeady in switching allegiances to the Republic.