Immigrants In Ireland Research Articles

Polish Immigrant Organisations in The Republic of Ireland: Theri Present State and Scenarios for Theri Future Development

The presence of an extensive number of Polish immigrants in Ireland has a short history, which began after Poland’s accession to the EU. Therefore, the organizations that have been set up since 2004 were to a high degree built up with no or little impact of the existing tradition of immigrant structures and institutions. This makes Ireland a specific laboratory for testing a new model of immigrants’ organization of the 21st century. The article aims to describe the development of Polish immigrant organizations in Ireland and to present their characteristics, including their goals, activities, the role of new media and technology, as well as the patterns of participation and communication. The detailed presentation of these characteristics and case studies serves the goal of answering the question: if and to what extent “young” Polish immigrant organizations in Ireland can be seen as the forerunners of a new model of immigrants’ organization of the 21st century.

Interfaith Dialogue Reflected in The Irish Times. A Defence of Romanian Immigrants in Ireland

This article draws the portrayal of the church support for Romanians as depicted in articles from the most important Irish newspaper, The Irish Times (1992-2020). The articles analyzed show: the help of the Church of Ireland for the Romanian people in the aftermath of the 1989 fall of the communist regime; the interest that the Irish society showed for the Orthodox Church in the context of an increase in the number of immigrants from Romania, a predominantly Orthodox country; the efforts of the churches in Ireland to establish an interfaith dialogue for the benefit of the Romanian immigrants; the focus that remarkable Orthodox priests, such as Father Irineu Crăciun and Father Godfrey O’Donnell, benefitted from in the Irish press due to their constant work for the benefit of the Romanian community in Ireland.

Immigration and Entrepreneurship: The Role of Enclaves

Immigration has proven to be a major force driving entrepreneurial dynamics. In this paper I investigate how the geographical distribution of immigrants within a given country, and in particular the presence of “enclaves,” affects the relationship between immigration and entrepreneurship. I examine the impact of Polish immigration to Great Britain following the unprecedented migration wave caused by the European Union enlargement in 2004. I address omitted variable concerns by using information on the location of historical Polish military settlements and the occupational composition and growth of Polish immigration in Ireland to construct instruments for enclaves and location choices of immigrants. The econometric results indicate, on the one hand, that immigration does increase immigrant entrepreneurship, but not in existing immigrant enclaves. On the other hand, immigrant entrepreneurs outside enclaves tend to achieve worse growth outcomes than those in enclaves. Further analyses provide an explanation to these findings due to blocked labor markets and to the higher prevalence of “necessity entrepreneurship” outside of enclaves. These results offer new insights to understand the influence of geography on entrepreneurship in the presence of immigration. This paper was accepted by Toby Stuart, entrepreneurship and innovation. Supplemental Material: The data files and online appendix are available at https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2023.4776 .

‘Save Me from My Friends’: The Transnational Intimacies of an Irish-Latvian Couple within and beyond the Irish Revolution, 1916–1921

What can a focus on intimacies and affinities between radical immigrants in Ireland and their Irish counterparts tell us about the transnational scope of the global Irish revolution? This article answers this question through the lives of Rose MacKenna, an Irish playwright and socialist, and her husband Sidney Arnold, a Latvian literary translator. The activist career of this obscure Irish-Latvian couple took them from revolutionary Dublin in the wake of the Easter Rising to Petrograd in the aftermath of the Russian Revolution. This article argues that MacKenna and Arnold, by virtue of their obscurity and marginality, rather than in spite of it, can suggest the sources and methodologies required to uncover the transnational world of Ireland's radical intelligentsia.

Austerity, Short-term Economic Recovery and Public Perception of Immigration in Ireland

The economic crisis of 2007/2008 did not affect all members of the European Union (EU) to the same extent. In the Irish case, the economic crisis and subsequent period of austerity paralleled an erosion in public support for immigration. However, little is known about how public perception changed during a period of short-term economic recovery, like that experienced in Ireland from 2014 to 2018. Using repeated cross-sectional survey data unique to Ireland, this work captures change in attitudes towards immigrants during the pre-crisis and late-austerity periods. Moreover, this research evaluates the importance placed on two immigrant attributes intimately linked to the labour market — education and skills. We provide evidence of an emergence of more moderate views of immigration during the recovery period, but only in the perceived importance of educational qualifications. Perception of skills remains notably unchanged. Of note, both attributes remain more important in the public eye relative to before the economic crisis. In other words, short-term economic recovery does not automatically translate into a more welcoming reception. We confirm that crises and periods of austerity erode public perception of newcomers, particularly when immigration is framed in terms of skill-based economic contribution. However, this work reveals some of the scars of a rapid and deep economic downturn alter the context of reception in a durable way, which remains notably resistant to short-term recovery.

How to promote exclusive breastfeeding in Ireland: a qualitative study on views of Chinese immigrant mothers

BackgroundThe exclusive breastfeeding rate in Ireland is very low with extremely slow annual growth. The population of immigrants in Ireland is increasing. Improving exclusive breastfeeding practice among immigrants may contribute to the overall improvement of exclusive breastfeeding rates in Ireland. This study was conducted to elicit suggestions on improving exclusive breastfeeding rate for the first 6 months among Chinese immigrants in Ireland.MethodsFourteen semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with Chinese immigrant mothers residing in Ireland, who breastfed exclusively for 4 to 6 months. Interviews were recorded and transcribed in Chinese. Data were analyzed using a qualitative thematic analysis. Themes were developed through categorization of codes and via in-depth discussion between two researchers.ResultsThemes generated from the thematic content analysis were: 1) suggestions for new mothers: being strong mentally and getting support from family and friends; 2) suggestions for employers: creating a supportive workplace by setting up private rooms and breastmilk storage facilities; 3) suggestions for healthcare professionals: advocating breastfeeding in the hospital and addressing cultural differences by recruiting multilingual staff; 4) suggestions for the government: promoting breastfeeding by initiating societal and policy changes.ConclusionsThe key findings emerging from this study may be considered in the development of breastfeeding promotion strategies in Ireland. Our findings could also have implications for other English-speaking countries with low rates of exclusive breastfeeding.

The role of labour market experiences in the social and political integration of first and second-generation Non-Western and Eastern European immigrants in Ireland

Abstract The increase in the number of immigrants in Europe in recent decades has been accompanied by a rise in anti-immigrant sentiment and a growth in support for far-right political parties in Europe. A key element for ant-immigrant sentiment is the assumed lack of attachment and commitment of immigrants to the institutions, values and national identity of the host country. While a considerable body of studies have focused on the political and social assimilation of immigrants into European countries, the possible influence of Irish labour market experiences of first and second generation immigrants from non-western countries and Eastern European countries remains an under-researched area in th e literature. Combining five waves of the European Social Survey we test the proposition that the labour market experiences of first and second-generation immigrants from non-western countries and Eastern European countries are a factor affecting the extent of political and social assimilation into the host country. Our findings indicate that first-generation immigrants’ attachment to the political institutions of the host country are likely influenced more by a comparison with conditions in their country of origin rather than how they fare in labour market of the host country.

\u201cI was determined to breastfeed, and I always found a solution\u201d: successful experiences of exclusive breastfeeding among Chinese mothers in Ireland

BackgroundThe prevalence of exclusive breastfeeding for at least 4 months was previously found to be very low among Chinese immigrants in Ireland, at 5.8% (Zhou et al., Front Public Health 6:351, 2018). This study investigates the successful experiences of Chinese mothers living in Ireland who exclusively breastfeed for between four and 6 months.MethodsParticipants were recruited from the sample of the Ireland Chinese Mother Survey. Qualitative in-depth interviews were conducted with fourteen participants in their homes or public places.ResultsA content analysis revealed that various factors contributed to a successful experience of exclusive breastfeeding among the group of Chinese immigrant mothers, including strong self-determination; appropriate physical conditions; awareness of the benefits of exclusive breastfeeding; a lack of time constraints; and family, professional and policy support. The barriers that the mothers faced included the difficulty of balancing breastfeeding and employment, infant health issues, language barriers, an inability to consume the traditional Chinese postpartum diet and a lack of public breastfeeding facilities. Measures taken to overcome these barriers included seeking family support, resting during the lactation period, and pumping breast milk to feed from a bottle when outside the home.ConclusionsThis study highlights unique factors affecting exclusive breastfeeding among Chinese mothers in Ireland, which may be useful to health care professionals working with Chinese immigrant women internationally.

Second-Generation Nigerian Children’s Descriptions of Racism and Perceptions of Irish Identity

ABSTRACT In recent decades, Ireland has experienced an increase in diversity due to immigration. The purpose of this study is to explore how three Irish-born primary-grade children of Nigerian immigrants in Ireland, one girl and two boys in the 5th and 6th grades, describe experiences of racism and perceive being Irish in a predominantly White, but increasingly diverse, country. Drawing on the case study method, this article argues that the students developed racialized perceptions of being Irish that were influenced by experiences of racism from White peers and adults in school and the local community. These experiences led the children to feel less than fully Irish, even though all of them identified as Irish-born citizens. Data were collected in the 2014–2015 school year. Data sources include individual and group interviews with the students, teacher and principal interviews, and school observations. This research helps fill a gap concerning the way primary-grade students from immigrant backgrounds describe racism, and how racism can influence children’s perceptions of citizenship identity. The study’s results have implications for educators and educational researchers in considering how knowledge of diverse children’s perspectives can help create inclusive school environments that prepare young people for citizenship in multicultural societies.

‘I have not witnessed it personally myself, but…’: Epistemics in managing talk on racism against immigrants in Ireland

AbstractSocial psychologists who study racism or prejudice argue that various versions of these are constructed in ways to suppress or minimise their relevance. However, researchers have not particularly examined how knowledge‐claims about racism can also be variously made or negotiated in attending to the relevance of racism. We offer such an examination through a discursive psychological analysis of interview talk with Irish nationals on immigration, since in these settings issues of immigration and racism are not readily relevant. Findings show that participants treated how knowledge of racism can be accessed and who has the rights to make knowledge‐claims about racism, as relevant. Epistemic access and rights were negotiated in ways that showed sensitivity to possibilities for suppressing alternative claims about racism. These findings are discussed in relation to current social psychological and discursive approaches to racism.

“Migrant Women Are Always Added”: In Conversation with Ebun Joseph Akpoveta

Abstract. Ebun Joseph Akpoveta was born in Nigeria in 1970. She is originally from Okpe in the State of Edo but she was later raised in Benin City. Her primary degree is in Microbiology from the University of Benin in Nigeria. Her professional career started in the State of Lagos and she was the Administrative Secretary for the Nigerian Britain Association before she moved to Ireland back in 2002. Since her arrival in Ireland, Ebun Joseph Akpoveta has been engaged in various activities and has been a prolific and pro-active member of the Nigerian community in her new home country. While in Ireland she has also furthered her academic instruction and has been a student of various postgraduate programmes. She obtained a Master's degree in Education, Adult Guidance and Counselling from the National University of Ireland, Maynooth. She was recently awarded a Ph.D. by the UCD School of Social Justice in Equality Studies, one of her many passions apart from literature and writing. Ebun Joseph Akpoveta is also an equality activist, a career and a motivational speaker. She is an IACP-accredited counsellor and has great experience working with immigrants in Ireland. With this main cause in mind she founded The Unforgettable Women's Network--TUWN which advocates for equality between men and women. She is a founding member of the African Women Writers Ireland, a Member of RTE Audience Council, and a columnist for the African Voice Newspaper. Ebun Joseph Akpoveta's first book, Becoming Unforgettable. Uncovering the Essence of the Woman (2012), had the format of a counselling, self-help volume for women who need to articulate their experiences and cope with different plights. Her debut into fiction was with the harrowing novel Trapped: Prison without Walls (2013); here she embarks on the narration of difficult ordeals by immigrant African women in their new host country, Ireland. With this novel, Ebun Joseph Akpoveta interrogates the manner by which literary discourses in post Celtic Tiger Ireland challenge, elide or accommodate issues of globalization, immigration, and the notion of multiculturalism. With her fiction, Ebun Joseph Akpoveta questions much-used celebratory accounts of Irish multiculturalism, at least in media and political discourses, as integrationist and inclusive of the Other, and in particular, the female Other. Ebun Joseph Akpoveta lives in Dublin with her beloved family. I would like to thank her for her patience and kindness in collaborating to expand and finalise the present written version of her interview through e-mail. Key Words. Immigrant Women, Post-Celtic Tiger, Gender-Based Violence, Multiculturalism, Integration, New Irish Resumen. Ebun Joseph Akpoveta nacio en Nigeria en 1970. Es natal de Okpe, en el estado de Edo, pero recibio su educacion en Ciudad de Benin. Sus estudios de grado son en Microbiologia por la Universidad de Benin en Nigeria. Comenzo su carrera profesional en el Estado de Lagos como Secretaria Administrativa en la asociacion Britanico-Nigeriana antes de emigrar a Irlanda en 2002. Desde su llegada a Irlanda, Ebun Joseph Akpoveta ha estado involucrada en diversas actividades y ha sido miembro activo de la comunidad nigeriana en su nuevo pais de acogida. En Irlanda ha proseguido su formacion academica en diversos estudios de postgrado. Tras sus estudios de master en la Universidad Nacional de Irlanda en Maynooth, ha finalizado en la Facultad de Justicia Social de la UCD sus estudios de doctorado en justicia igualitaria, otra de sus muchas pasiones ademas de la literatura y la escritura. Mujer de muchos talentos es, ademas, activista en la igualdad, una coach profesional y guia motivacional. Es consejera acreditada de la IACP y tiene una amplia experiencia trabajando con inmigrantes en Irlanda. Ademas fundo la TUWN (The Unforgettable Women's Network) que aboga por la igualdad de las mujeres. Es ademas miembro fundador de la Asociacion Irlandesa de Escritoras Africanas, miembro del Consejo de la Audiencia de RTE y columnista del periodico African Voice. …

A Simulation Study of Weighting Methods to Improve Labour-Force Estimates of Immigrants in Ireland

Abstract As immigration has become a global phenomenon in recent years, a number of European countries, including Ireland, have experienced an influx of immigrants, causing a shift in their national demographics. Therefore, it is important that the EU-LFS yield reliable labour-force estimates not only for the whole population, but also for the immigrant population. This article uses simulation techniques to compare the effectiveness of four different weighting mechanisms in order to improve the precision of the labour-force estimates from the Irish component of the European Union Labour Force Survey (EU-LFS) called the Quarterly National Household Survey (QNHS). The four weighting methodologies for comparison include the original and the current weighting scheme of the QNHS as well as our two proposed alternative weighting schemes. The simulation results show that by modifying the current QNHS weighting mechanism, we can improve the accuracy of the labour-force estimates of the immigrant population in Ireland without affecting the estimates of the whole population and the Irish nationals. This article highlights potential issues that other countries with new immigrant populations may face when using the EU-LFS for immigration research, and our recommendations may be useful to researchers and national statistical offices in such countries.

Immigration, Asylum, and Gender: Ireland and Beyond

The paper offers a comparative look at attitudes to immigration in Ireland as reflected in the latest round of ESS, with a particular focus on the issues of asylum, gender, and misconceptions of the true extent of immigration.

Competence of Irish and Polish teachers in the opinions of young Polish immigrants in Ireland

Since 2004, Ireland has experienced the arrival of immigrants from various countries from all over the world including Poland. The Polish came to Ireland with their families including children of school age obliged to attend compulsory education. These children have attended schools dissimilar from the ones they are accustomed to in their home country in terms of teacher–student relationships. The question then arises as to what an Irish teacher is like in the opinions of young Polish immigrants? Is the image different from the one of a Polish teacher, or does the peculiarity of this job make teachers in various countries alike? This research conducted among a group of Polish grammar school students in Ireland helps to answer these questions. This article is a comparative study of teachers’ competence, and their personality, as well as their substantive, methodological and educational competence. The information was obtained by group interview technique with Polish youth aged 13–15 studying in Irish secondary schools at junior cycle level.

Multinational investment and return migration in Ireland in the 1990s- a county-level analysis

The mobility transition from emigration to immigration in Ireland in the 1990s resulted in significant return migration, whose relationship to new multinational jobs at the micro-scale has not been investigated. Spatial analyses of county data (Census and IDA) reveal that return migration was high in areas with high MNC and other job growth such as greater Dublin and the central west, and low in areas with poor job growth such as the border zone and parts of the southeast. However, some areas with low return migration had substantial job growth (e.g., county Limerick), and some areas with high return migration had a scarcity of new jobs (e.g. county Mayo) suggesting non-economic reasons for return. A household survey in Mayo County in 2002 revealed the predominance of family and quality of life reasons over economic reasons in the decision to return to Ireland. However, the improving Irish economy very likely enabled returnees to meet their career aspirations in Ireland, regardless of the primary reasons they stated for return.

Immigration into the Republic of Ireland: a bibliography of recent research

Until relatively recently, research on migration to the Republic of Ireland has been limited to a handful of texts. As immigration into Ireland has increased over the last decade, so has the volume of published research exploring this phenomenon, with a significant increase in the number of published research reports, policy studies and submissions, conference proceedings, monographs, academic papers, book chapters and theses. However the piecemeal and often ad hoc nature of the growth of this bibliography presents specific problems for both researchers and participants. This paper draws together a comprehensive (though not exhaustive) bibliography of research into immigration in Ireland. The bibliography is organised into a typology of research on migration into Ireland by considering the existing corpus of work under nine headings. The paper concludes by highlighting the potential contribution that human geography can offer to our understandings of the processes and dimensions of migration to twenty-first century Ireland.

Target earning/learning, settling or trampolining? Polish and Chinese immigrants in Ireland

This article provides a theoretical and an empirical analysis of the migration patterns and experiences of Chinese and Polish migrants in order to understand the human geography of these movements and the qualitative parameters and dimensions of contemporary migration into Ireland. Using theories of transnationalism, I argue that there are three general types of immigrant transnational orientations in the interviewees studied: target earners, target learners and trampoliners. Immigrant abilities to imagine a future in Ireland were shaped in large part by structural conditions such as: their visa status, race, gender and class backgrounds, the ability to move across borders freely, educational backgrounds and occupational skills. Their orientations were often expressed in terms of their communication with home, Ireland and many countries in between, through the use of digital media and technology.

Citizenship and Political Participation: The Role of Electoral Rights Under European Union Law

As a contribution to a collection focusing on immigration in Ireland, this paper provides the broader EU political and legal context to issues of political participation of non-citizens in domestic elections. The paper surveys both the EU electoral rights themselves, under the EU Treaties, and also the intersection between these rights and national political practices which grant, or deny, political participation rights to all migrants, regardless of whether they are EU citizens or third country nationals.

Increasing HIV Testing Among African Immigrants in Ireland: Challenges and Opportunities

In 2012, immigrants constitute 63% of new cases of heterosexually transmitted HIV among individuals born outside Ireland. Current strategies to encourage testing can be ineffective if immigrants perceive them as culturally insensitive. We obtained qualitative data to explore challenges to voluntary HIV-testing for immigrants in Ireland. Content analysis was undertaken to identify and describe pertinent themes. Widespread beliefs that HIV is primarily a disease of African immigrants were identified as challenges that constrain access to testing and care. The organization and location of testing services, attitude of health workers, and beliefs regarding mandatory HIV-testing for immigrants seeking access to welfare benefits were also identified. Immigrants in Ireland encounter a variety of structural, cultural and personal constraints to HIV testing. Opportunities exist in the Irish Health system to increase testing among immigrants through greater acknowledgement of cultural sensitivities of immigrant groups.

Immigrant political integration in Ireland: unpacking the puzzle

The involvement in of Africans in various forms of political activities in Ireland is manifest in the emergence of two first-generation Africans as local representatives in the 2004, the subsequent election of one of them as the first black mayor in Ireland in 2007, the 2011 candidacy of four Africans as national parliamentary candidates and the high number of African candidates in the June 2009 local elections (42.2% of the total immigrant local election candidates and 1.7% of the total candidates nationwide). Drawing strongly from the findings of my recent research on African immigrants in Ireland, I argue that both institutional and structural factors in Ireland serve to enhance certain forms of political behaviour, while limiting others. My research illustrates that the significant presence of African candidates in Irish local elections remains a puzzle that has failed to ‘ignite’ or rather stimulate a plethora of participation in traditional forms of political activities like voting, registering to vote and join Irish political parties, and part of the puzzle can be explained by their unique characteristics.