Barriers to Communication

by Ciara Campbell

 

 

Ireland is celebrated as being quite a welcoming, inviting and open country, this is our national identity. Home is the foundation of many Irish people's lives and something that, when abroad, we love to acclaim. Our 'mammies' are the heart of the family and our red hair brings happiness to many of the tourists' faces, so the stereotypes say. However, what tourists do not see is the prejudice that some Irish people feel towards foreign nationals living in Ireland. It is not something that makes me proud to be Irish and is something that I witness on a weekly basis. Incidents that I have personally witnessed include foreign taxi men being openly ignored because of their race, Muslim girls being stared at and talked about in school because of their hijab and people under the influence shouting slurs at innocent foreign people passing them by. Although the majority of Irish people are open and welcoming, it is the people who continue to strive for marginalisation that hinder our positive multicultural attitudes.

 

An incident that I have witnessed that affected me greatly was when I was in secondary school. A new girl was brought into my class in second year that was originally from Poland. She had very little English and also suffered with autism. The majority of my class were around the age of thirteen and so we had not been informed about autism and what effect it has on a person. There was no special needs assistant or helper to guide the girl through the year at school which says a lot about Ireland's stance on special needs in schools, however that is an entirely different problem altogether. Due to our young age, we had very little education about multiculturalism, culture shock, adaptation and the many other things that this girl was going through because of her new home here in Ireland. Multiculturalism within Irish primary schools is a relatively new thing and when I attended primary school, there were few to none foreign kids in attendance. This and the lack of education about multiculturalism led to this girl having a very difficult time during her secondary school years. She was not given the assistance she needed to cope in this new school and she was bullied. I am certainly not using a lack of education as an excuse for the girls who bullied her because they did so out of ignorance and stupidity but it would have made a huge difference if we were taught about different cultures in primary school. Cultural diversity is something that is becoming more and more relative to daily life. Every day we are engaging with people from different origins and the education system needs to take this into account in order to keep up to date with Ireland's ever growing multicultural community.

 

There were huge barriers to communication for this girl. Firstly, she had very little English which meant that she now had to adopt a new culture and learn a new language. This would have been incredibly difficult for a girl at thirteen. The girls in my year had already spent first year together and the new girl had to figure out a new class with little English and her communication disorder. Upon reflection, I regret immensely not stepping in to help her through that year. I was not one of the people who bullied her but because of my lack of education on the matter, I also did not know how to communicate with her. Her ethnicity should have been celebrated and taught to us but instead highlighted her difference. Multiculturalism needs to be taught from a young age in order for Ireland to even begin to consider itself as a diverse country because what is the point in having a diverse range of nationalities if people are being marginalised. Our nature may be welcoming but with racist incidents continuing to rise, something needs to change.

 

My father has travelled around the world during his adulthood and he considers himself to be quite rounded and well educated on cultural diversity but my mother is the complete opposite. She would not understand the implications of being different, she is not naïve, but she was never in a situation that forced her to open her eyes to what other people go through due to their ethnicity. This comparison is the basis for many Irish people. Some people like to be oblivious to the harsh realities of foreign nationals living in Ireland but the high number of immigrants means that this attitude needs to change. Nationalism is a great thing to have but if it is being used as a way to block out different cultures, it may not be something to celebrate. The Polish girl that was in my year was dropped into a new school and forced to adapt straight away with no help at all. She was set up to fail when she should have been given the necessary tools to help her settle in. It takes effort to separate oneself from similarity and open oneself to difference but that is what many people in Ireland need to do. There is a lot of space for diversity in Ireland but the mind set of people who continue to marginalise needs to change. For the girl in my year, education about multiculturalism could have made her life a little bit easier but the acceptance of difference also needs to be encouraged.

 

Being different should not mean that you are open to being ridiculed; it should be something that is taught and celebrated. Ireland is a country that prides itself on nationality but we are also home to many different cultures. Education and understanding about these cultures is what needs to be promoted for marginalisation to stop. Barriers to communication could eventually disappear if people open their minds to difference. Not only would it prove that Ireland is the welcoming and open country that it seems to be but it would also encourage people to be more open about their ethnicity and culture.

Of Ireland and Beyond

by Bronagh Catibusic

Twenty years a-changing – Ireland has gone from boom to bust in less than a generation. Our leaders have the gall to tell us it’s because we all ‘partied’ through the Celtic Tiger era. I suppose the patriarchal powers deem juggling work and children a right old rave… Reality, however, is more sobering. Most people never revelled with the bons vivants. Yet we’re still paying dearly for their extravagance. Though, apparently, this small country is in recovery mode. We’re courting multinationals again – the cranes are back on the skyline. Progress, some would say.

It depends on what you value, how you rate a nation’s assets. Often we don’t notice the true wealth we’ve accrued over the last two decades. It’s visible on our streets, in schools, workplaces, shops, on transport systems. A worldwide range of faces, the many languages and cultures that now enrich our land. But do we appreciate this priceless treasure? Sadly, not enough. Racism, both overt and institutional, blemishes a place that prides itself as the home of ‘céad míle fáilte’. We boast of the warm welcome we offer tourists. However, at the same time, Ireland exploits migrant workers and treats victims of persecution to the inhumanity of ‘direct provision’.

According to the prevailing narrative, we’re living in a ‘pluralistic’ society. Though, sometimes, it seems our notion of diversity is limited. Is it merely the substitution of one, sanctimonious, indigenous elite for a similar, if less ‘God-deluded’, clique? For when it comes to responding to cultural difference, interest appears to wane. Especially within official circles. Beyond occasional tokenism, there’s little commitment to fostering integration as a dynamic, immigrant/native joint production. Yet this kind of process – based on co-operation and equality – could help to create a vibrant Ireland.

Instead, we have expert consultations. Reports are commissioned but few positive shifts in policy emerge. Speaking for the marginalised has become the stuff prestigious careers are made on. Ministers stand over injustice as, on a daily basis, their procrastination allows the state to violate the rights of those in search of refuge. Intermittent platitudes are issued. But when asylum seekers dare to protest against the conditions they endure, who bothers to listen?

In the media, in the Oireachtas, where are our culturally diverse voices? As a people, are we as tolerant as we claim to be? Or is it safer for immigrants to assimilate and keep their mouths shut? Recently, for example, when Muslims expressed concerns about portrayals they found offensive, public reaction was largely hostile. But in today’s world, more than ever, we need dialogue. Views must be shared, challenges overcome. Interculturalism can’t be just a bland appropriation of ‘ethnic’ commodities, while expecting those classifiable as other than ‘white Irish’ to blend silently into the population.

We brighten our national festival with a bit of global pizzazz. Colourful floats and displays represent our ‘new communities’. But what comes after the parade? For me, St. Patrick’s Day is a time to remember. The anniversary of my first date with a lad who hailed from bombed-out Sarajevo. Starting from a refugee centre in Dublin, the journey we’ve taken since 1995 has brought both pain and joy. Above all, though, it’s blessed us with three Bosnian-Irish daughters. And, like thousands of kids growing up in Ireland, their heritage is deeply infused with elsewhere. Minarets and church spires mingle as, in their memories, Balkan sunshine breaks through Atlantic rain and the steep mountains of Bosnia sweep down to the Irish Sea.

The diverse identities of children from immigrant backgrounds could hugely benefit Ireland. Enabling these girls and boys to maintain and develop their home languages could enhance this country’s pool of linguistic resources. Recognising and respecting their experiences and beliefs could also nurture mutual understanding. In this regard, intercultural education is essential. It’s vital in the fight against racism. And, as a catalyst for social harmony, it deserves prioritisation and investment. That is, if we’re serious about cherishing all who belong to this nation. So that we can proudly say – each in our own unique way – we are ‘of Ireland’.

To read more of Bronagh's work, check out her blog https://bronaghcatibusic.wordpress.com/  and you can also find her on twitter @BiHIrishCoffee https://twitter.com/BiHIrishcoffee

Abolish Direct Provision

by Bernadette D'Arcy


Introducing cosmetic changes to the Direct Provision system will not be tolerated by the the people in DP nor by their supporters. The whole system stinks and is held together by corruption as the pockets of lots of catering companies and building owners are lined every year. I am hazarding a guess that not one center owner has ever spent a week living in a room in their own room under the conditions that the people living in DP have to suffer. Prisoners get early parole for good behavior from prison and DP is a prison so I think the residents should be freed for their exemplary good behavior. Children should not be residing in these prisons which the government calls “HOME”Child of female prisoner


17. (1) A child, of less than twelve months of age, of a female prisoner may be admitted to a prison and remain with the mother to facilitate breast feeding until the child has reached twelve months of age.


(2) In the case of a prisoner who gives birth to a child during the term of her imprisonment, the child may be admitted to a prison and remain with the mother in prison, until the child has reached twelve months of age.[220]


I am not saying separate families. What I am saying is abolish DP and bulldoze down every building so that they can never again be used in such a fashion for financial gain by so few from the suffering and misery of so many




To read more of Bernadette's work check out her blog https://berehichioya2.wordpress.com/  You can also find her on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/pages/Speaking-From-Experience/389776217846597

Traveller Ethnicity Should be Recognised

by Aisling Twomey

We are obsessed with race. From the moment that first person decided to subject others to his will as a result of their difference, race has compartmentalised, segregated and fragmented society. We are defined by our differences, despite the fact that all people are human and we’re all made of the same essentials.

People often talk about Traveller ethnicity; it’s been a popular topic in the news for the past few months as Minister Aodhán Ó Riordáin seeks to have Traveller ethnicity effectively recognised by Government. This decision comes after years and years of various UN bodies recommending that Ireland recognise Traveller ethnicity, which was recognised in the United Kingdom in the case of O Leary v Allied Domecq in 2000. So, why the delay?

Countless years of Government policy and endless online comments say that Travellers are white Irish people, that they’re the same as settled people- except that they ‘don’t pay tax’ and ‘they steal’.

Of course, the prolific number of ‘settled’ Irish people who have demonstrated great capacity in dodging tax and stealing (Charlie Haughey? Martin Cahill? Bono?!) are vastly forgotten in the course of the argument, but there is no denying that Travellers are white and Irish, right?

Here’s the thing. Since when can we only be two things? I’m white and Irish, but neither of those two things tells you a damn thing about me. You don’t know what my parents are like (totally awesome), you don’t know that I love dogs more than people (fact) and you don’t know where I come from in any real sense. You don’t know how I view myself and my place in the world. You don’t know anything about my identity.

A white, 25 year old Irish Traveller woman has experienced a life that is vastly different from mine.

She speaks a different language, knows a different type of home, marries younger, has children younger and finished school at least four years before I did with less qualifications. She is six times more likely to die by suicide than I am, and I will likely live ten years more than her. In school, she was treated differently; less was expected of her. She is denied entry to pubs, restaurants and shops.

Those things don’t make her a Traveller, but she experiences them because she is one. People are more than willing to categorise her as one when it comes to letting her into a bar- but when it comes to helping her achieve and attain and strive, they refuse to acknowledge that she is different.  

For decades, we have segregated Travellers, desperately impacting on their outcomes- and then blaming them for those outcomes we imposed on them in the first place.

Those who actively contest that Travellers aren’t an ethnic minority because they’re white and Irish are wrong. Travellers fulfil the requirement to be recognised as an ethnic group; they have their own language, history, beliefs, culture and traditions. Sure, they’re White and Irish- but they’re not the same White and Irish that I am. That should be very clear. Continents, countries and regions contain different ethnic groups- and ethnic groups sometimes have nothing to do with lines drawn on a map and the colour of your face.

If we recognise Traveller ethnicity, we can stop trying to make them more like settled people. We can aim to help Travellers get through education, get into employment, challenge discrimination and thrive. We can aim to make their health outcomes better and we can demand and expect the involvement of the community in all of that. Why do we oppose improvement in the lives of others?

Today, we acknowledge that ‘race’ alone is a dodgy concept, based on physical attributes as opposed to a sense of identity. Race has long been used to impose requirements and characteristics on others, without hearing what they have to say. Ethnicity as a concept is gaining more traction, and along with it the understanding that the people we are, where we come from, and the places that we occupy are much more than the colour of our skin.

Your life isn’t mine to make decisions on. Traveller ethnicity is something the government should recognise, because it’s a reality and denying it needlessly devalues people who have been devalued for long enough.

I have no right to stand in front of you and tell you who you are- and that’s the whole point.




You can find out more about Aisling on twitter @taisling https://twitter.com/taisling  You can also check out her website www.aislingtwomey.me 
Aisling also works with Pavee Point which is a great organisation that celebrates Traveller Culture and works towards getting equal rights for the Traveller community, you really should check out their website  www.paveepoint.ie. 

Trapped in Direct Provision

By Michelle Mitchell

It is a well known fact that there is a serious housing crisis in Ireland at the moment, and as a result rental properties are becoming increasingly difficult to obtain and monthly prices becoming less affordable. The issues in relation to housing in Ireland are ones that seem to have affected people through all of the social class divides. Nevertheless whilst I do acknowledge that the housing crisis has had a profound negative affect on people from all walks of life, it has to be stated that the consequences of these effects vary and there are some social class groupings in society that have suffered far greater than others.

I would like to therefore draw you attention to the matter of asylum seekers in Ireland and how this scarcity of rental properties has affected their quest to find a home here after being granted Irish citizenship.  Firstly I would to state my reasons as to why I have chosen to highlight this issue above all else in relation to the housing crisis. I believe that it is an area for concern on a human rights level that we as a nation have chosen to ignore. When we think of the property market at the moment we tend to think of people losing their homes and rental increases, however what the Irish media has failed to do was to adequately provide information and draw attention to our new citizens that we are silently keeping suppressed and technically homeless by forcing them to live here under direct provision.

In the Irish Times this week, it was announced that after the Irish government granted over 600 asylum seekers citizenship in Ireland they are now unable to secure rental properties thus having to remain under direct provision once more.  Currently the Irish Refugee Council are actively campaigning to end direct provision for asylum seekers in Ireland as they feel it is a system that leaves people languishing for years. However the government have described their willingness to allow asylum seekers to remain on direct provision as an act of humanity. However asylum seekers disagree and are vigorously imploring with the Irish government to end this system of institutionalised living which results in people having no where to call home. It sees thousands of people including children, existing in our society instead of living in a country which held of the promise and the hope of a chance of at improved living conditions for them. It refuses them the opportunity to integrate and assimilate into Irish society and thus in many respects it denies them an identity that they so truly deserve. Having to rely on direct provision restricts them in becoming active and concerned members of society and hence they remain alienated from the environment around them. This in effect allows xenophobia and prejudice to being to develop.  Direct provision also confines the extent to which asylum seekers can flourish in Irish society as without a home and a decent living wage, asylum seekers are limited in their choices surrounding their involvement in society.

Although I have just merely touched on some of the many negative implications for asylum seekers living under direct provision, I believe the problem of not being able to secure rental property despite being granted citizenship in Ireland is that of a major concern. It is a matter of equality and basic human rights. If this problem is not dealt with as a matter of priority by the government we are effectively giving these people a life sentence in limbo. We are denying them to be fully active Irish citizens that other Irish people enjoy. We are subjecting their children to a life of insecurity and confinement which will undoubtedly result in a social divide amongst their peers and needless to say severe emotional issues. All of which have been mentioned in interviews by individuals relying on direct provision.  Therefore I would  like to conclude this piece by reiterating a previous point I made; the government must act now to allow rental properties to become more obtainable for people on low incomes or social welfare payments. Whether this is in the form of reviewing the rent allowance welfare policy or making more houses available on the social housing scheme, the solution is there and must be found promptly and dealt with accordingly.




You can learn more about shelly on twitter @ShellyMitchy https://twitter.com/ShellyMitchy

Women Who Changed Our World

Throughout history, women have put their lives and reputations on the line to stand up for equality and fairness. They have been amongst those leading the charge to make this world a better place to live in. Today we celebrate the work they have done, and thank them also. This year's theme for International Women's Day is #MakeItHappen and the following women certainly made it happen.  

Emma Lazarus was a writer and poet from New York in the 19^th Century. She wrote bold poems and essays calling for the end of anti-semitism and demanding rights for immigrants. Her sonnet ‘The New Colosuss’ can be found on the Statue of Liberty, which has become an inspiring part of American culture and immigration.

On the 1st of December 1955 Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on bus in Montgomery, Alabama. In those days the bus was segregated and as an African American, Rosa was sitting in the 'coloured' section, the front part of the bus (which was for white's only) had filled up and the bus driver ordered her to move to allow a white person to sit down in her seat. Rosa refused and this became a symbol of the modern Civil Rights Movement. There were a handful of women who had also refused to give up their seat on a bus, they included Irene Morgan and Sarah Louise Keys.

Maya Angelou, was an American actor, dancer, actress and writer. Maya became a respected voice for both black people and females. In 1965 she helped Malcom X start up the Organization of Afro-American Unity, which was a civil rights organisation. She also worked with Martin Luther King Jr. Maya continued to discuss civil rights in schools, public meeting etc even in her 80's.

This is only three amazing women who have inspired change in our thoughts and actions. There are thousands more who have and who continue to challenge the way we think, the way we act and the way we live. Happy International Women Day.

What other women would you like to celebrate today, please leave your answers in the comments.

B~



Report on the Age Action Intercultural Project

Intercultural Project

We often forget the specific needs of older people in our discussions about migration. This is understandable - most people who migrated to Ireland in the last 15 years are still relatively young and their most pressing issues are to do with very immediate concerns like finding a home; finding work; raising children all within the context of integrating into a new society. However moving countries does not halt the ageing process and some people who moved to Ireland in the last twenty or so years already are or will soon be at an age when they may welcome support services for older people such as residential or home care.  

Another angle on the issue is that much of the care of older people in Ireland, as in most Western countries, has been taken on by migrant health and social care workers. The adult care workforce has undergone a big change in population and culture in the past 15 years or so and it is now estimated that about 30% of the staff in the older adult care sector are from another country. This change is an enormously enriching opportunity for Ireland. As well as introducing diverse backgrounds and many new skills into the sector it helps the sector prepare changing needs in the older population as it becomes ever more diverse. But there are challenges also. Recent research done by the Migrant Rights Organisation (2012) and by the Irish Centre for Social Gerontology in Galway University (2008) has shown that the picture is generally good but also indicated that there are a number of challenging issues. Many migrant care workers experience a degree of cultural misunderstanding, discrimination and sometimes explicit racism in their daily work.

With these factors in mind Age Action Ireland has received funding from the European Integration Fund to run a one year project which will explore these issues further and look at ways that the challenges in the system can be addressed. The first part of the project involves doing a needs assessment in a number of Residential Care Homes in the North Dublin Area to update the research and to hear from workers both Irish and from other countries, from management, from residents and from residents’ relatives, what they see as the current issues.  This needs analysis has just been completed. The findings confirm the findings in the previous Irish research. Most people who participated in the needs analysis, residents, staff, managers, were clearly of the opinion that having staff members from all over the world enriches the daily life of residents and staff. Quotes such as one from a resident in a residential home and another from a staff person, ‘it broadens our world’, ‘We need people from other countries; we have become too institutionalised as a nation’, capture this opinion.

Challenges

Not surprisingly however, similar challenges to those found in the previous research were identified. It would be almost impossible to make the transition from a largely mono-cultural to a more diverse society without some difficulties. These challenges ranged from intercultural misunderstandings to more worrying forms of explicit racism. At the former end of this spectrum, management, staff and residents noted the difficulty for non-Irish staff in understanding Irish culture and sense of humour which obviously affected the speed with which they connected with their clients and highlights the need for cultural familiarity training. At the more alarming end of the spectrum, a large proportion of respondents, about 60%, had either experienced or witnessed, some form of discrimination or racially motivated abuse towards another colleague.  These instances came from management, fellow staff members, residents and relatives. A number of respondents commented that many residents resist care by ‘foreign’ staff.  They noted that non-Irish staff experience ‘racial abuse due to colour of skin from clients and relatives’. It is important to note that many Irish respondents, management, staff, residents, expressed concern about these incidents of prejudice and racism and worried about how they could support their colleagues and carers.

Next Steps

The next stage in the project is to use the information gathered in this process to develop a range of strategies, policies and intercultural training that that will promote intercultural understanding and minimise discrimination and racism. The intercultural training programme is being tested with some of the participating homes at the moment. In the longer term it is hoped to publicise the learning from the project and implement some of the strategies nationwide. The hope is that it will contribute to the long term aim of the project which is to ensure interculturalism and anti-discrimination become core values within the residential care sector.

Ann Moroney; Project Coordinator; Age Action

For further information about this project contact: intercultural@ageaction.ie

You can also find them on twitter @AgeAction  https://twitter.com/AgeAction