Photo of food-bank queue fuels online racist attacks against Indians in Ireland

A photograph of students standing in a queue outside an Irish food bank in Ireland has triggered a wave of xenophobic and racial attacks against Indians on social media.

The photograph, accompanied an article in the Irish Times about growing demand at the Speir student pantry at the University of Galway, shows a long line of students waiting for basic food assistance amid the country’s deepening cost-of-living crisis.

The report noted that the pantry, originally established to redistribute surplus food from supermarkets to students, has turned away hundreds of students each week due to overwhelming demand, despite distributing nearly €500,000 worth of food last year.

The photograph has gone viral on X, where some social media users zoomed in on individuals they believed were of South Asian heritage and claimed that most of the people in the queue were Indians.

One X user wrote, “Is it my imagination, but are most, if not all, of the ‘students’ in that queue foreign? If they are mostly foreign, then perhaps that explains the numbers turning up for free food. In order to study here, aren’t foreign students supposed to be able to support themselves?”

Another user wrote, “Immigrants are natural thieves and will take money (or food) even if they have plenty of their own.”

A third user wrote, “Begin the deportation, close thy heart to ones who are not our own, as now our children suffer.” None of these claims are supported by evidence, and the original report did not provide a nationality-wise breakdown of students waiting for food.

𝗨𝗻𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗚𝗮𝗹𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗯𝗮𝗻𝗸 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗰𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗻 𝗮𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝗵𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗿𝗲𝗱𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗸

Students access the service via a lottery system as demand outstrips supply

This is an example of what’s going on throughout the… pic.twitter.com/ScYId3WEdX

— Frank Conway (@FrankConway2025) February 21, 2026

Racial attacks against Indians

The online backlash comes against a backdrop of violent incidents against Indians reported in Ireland last year, including physical assaults that were investigated as potential hate crimes.

In August 2025, the Embassy of Ireland in Dublin has previously issued a safety advisory, urging citizens to avoid deserted areas and exercise caution.