EXAMINING INTEGRATION OF REFUGEES IN MULTICULTURAL IRELAND:
POLICY, ADVOCACY AND LIVED EXPERIENCE

by

Krista R amsay
B.A., University of Northern British Columbia, 2013

THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF
THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF
MASTER OF ARTS
IN
INTERDISCIPLINARY STUDIES

UNIVERSITY OF NORTHERN BRITISH COLUMBIA
April20 16

© Krista Ramsay, 2016

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to thank my thesis supervisor Dr. Angele Smith who helped foster my
love of research and of Ireland and without whom this thesis would not have developed any
farther than a dream. Dr. Smith has a deep commitment to her students and I am extremely
grateful for all that she has done for me. My abilities as a researcher, writer, and
Anthropologist grew signjficantly because of her knowledge and skills combined with her
unending guidance and support. As one of my committee members, Dr. Michael Murphy
helped develop my knowledge and greater understanding of multiculturalism and I
benefited greatly from his expertise. Dr. Murphy also has a deep respect for the ethical
applications of research and helped keep my research community-based and accessible for
the greater public. My other committee member Dr. Gary Wilson provided me with a
strong theoretical grounding and helped me appreciate the larger social/political context of
my research. Together, Dr. Smith, Dr. Murphy and Dr. Wilson were a strong committee
that facilitated an interdisciplinary approach between Anthropology and Political Science
for my thesis and I am grateful for all that they have done for me as a graduate student.
I would also like to acknowledge Dr. James McDonald, who served as both a
mentor and a committee member to me until his passing in 2015. Dr. McDonald had a
profound impact on my education and, alongside Dr. Smith, helped develop and guide my
abilities as an Anthropologist and a researcher. Dr. MCOonald was an influential force in
the academic world and I am honoured to have been able to work and study under him.
Throughout my academic career my family provided me with a strong foundation
of love and support. My parents, Frank and Jo-Anne Yoogd, have been there for me in so
many ways, from helping me move multiple times to sending me care packages, and I have
relied on their advice and encouragement in all of my academic endeavours. My siblings
have also been important supporters to me, especially my sister Leanne who read almost
every school paper l ever wrote and became my personal proof reader. I would also like to
thank my in-laws, Don and Lauri Ramsay, who provided unwavering support of my
schooling and future dreams. I would like to especially thank my husband Peter who has
been my partner in everything. Our relationship began when I was in the process of
applying for my Masters and he has supported me through every stage. He kept me
grounded, especially through the tense or emotional stages, and helped me see the bigger
picture of what I was working towards.
Lastly, I would like to thank SPIRASI and all of the interview participants who
took part in the research. Without them I would not have been able to conduct the same
depth of research and I am forever grateful for their willingness to speak with me and
include me in their community.

VI

DEDICATION

For Peter
My loving husband, partner, and best friend

Vll

Chapter 1: Introduction
Today's world is an interconnected web of people, ideas, theories, and practices. It
has become easier to travel greater distances in less time and ideas have spread farther as
the world moves more and more into a globalized system of interaction. Events have far
reaching affects and can no longer be seen as isolated to a single geographical location.
This is especially evident in the movement and flow of people (Schrottner 2012: 19). World
migration has always been part of the human condition, yet it occurs today at accelerated
rates. People move for various reasons, whether for pleasure, economics, or security, but
the fact remains that the world has grown more open to facilitating faster and farther travel
and relocation (Len tin & Me Veigh 2006:21 ). The movement of people, the ideological and
physical baggage that they bring with them, and their interactions at their destinations has
become the focus of migration studies.

In my research, I am interested in how minority groups integrate into larger
multicultural societies and what is involved in the integration process. Specifically, I
examine the policies and spaces created for and by refugees in the development of multiethnic communities within Ireland, in order to explore how refugees integrate into Ireland's
multicultural and intercultural society. I focus on state policies and structures of integration
and how these compare to refugees' lived experience of integration. In my research, I
asked three focused questions: 1) What are the state policies and structures that might
influence refugee integration? 2) What are the roles of non-governmental organization
(NGO) advocacy groups in refugee integration? 3) How do refugees themselves understand
their experience of integration in their new home country? These research questions guide
my study in exploring my overarching goal of analyzing integration at the state policy level

and at the lived experience level of refugees in order to get a more complete understanding
of refugee integration into Irish society.
I am interested in the negotiation of policy, both in its creation and implementation,

and how policy can construct ideas of integration. The governing structure in Ireland has
important implications as to how integration is managed through legislation and service
provision. Government constructed ideas of integration also affect how the integration of
refugees is presented to and perceived by the rest of society.
NGOs are formal organizations which act as a middle ground between the
government and refugees. I include NGOs as a way to better understand the relationship
between government integration policies and service implementation, and how constructed
understandings of integration at the governmental level are perceived by other sectors of
society. I explore the role ofNGOs as 'safe places' of integration for refugees and how
NGOs act as advocates for refugees.
I am interested in refugees· own experience of integration and recognize the
importance of including refugees ' voices in the research. This provides space for exploring
the lived experience of integration in Ireland. By analyzing NGO reports concerning
refugees' lives in Ireland and conducting my own ethnographic participant observation I
have been able to get a sense of the ways in which refugees understand and experience
integration.
The topics of this thesis are very pertinent to the international experience of
receiving and integrating refugees. Refugees have become a central feature of the global
conversation about human rights, ethics, and responsibility. Now, more than ever with the
usage of technology and instant news sharing, the experiences of refugees are being

2

brought to the global public attention and are being seen as part of a ' global cri sis' . As
racism, injustice and the popular focus on what separates 'Us' from 'Them' increases in
social media, I contend that it is necessary to question and critically engage with the
difficult discussions of the roles and responsibilities of the international community
towards these marginalized groups. This thesis aims to contribute to and raise awareness
of this important area of scholarly and public interest by encouraging greater discussion
around these research topics, specifically within Ireland and more generally in the greater
global context.
In my study, integration, multiculturalism/interculturalism, identity, place, and
racism were identified as key themes in refugee integration in Ireland. These themes are
interrelated and represent different components. In my thesis, I argue that refugee
integration in Ireland is a complicated negotiation between both positive integration
experiences into parts of a multiculturaVintercultural society (for instance, fmding
employment and becoming an active member of the community), and negative experiences
of discrimination, racism, and a shortage of opportunities and supports that challenge the
acceptance of marginalized and 'different' individuals. As will be seen throughout the
thesis, this negotiation of both positive and negative integration is present at the
governmental, non-governmental, and personal level.
1.1 Context/Literature Review
Ireland is an excellent case for studying the themes of integration, multiculturalism/
interculturalism, identity, place, and racism. After the Republic of Ireland achieved
Independence in 1922 there was a focus on developing a unique sense of Irish culture
(Fanning 20 11 :20; Gray 2006a:365). This drew heavily on a nineteenth-century idea of

3

'lrishness' and was used in the creation of a national identity (Fanning 20 ll: 19). Despite
the political agenda changing over time, the idea of a cohesive nation-state has remained
central to Irish politics. Cultural variation did exist in Ireland, however, the majority of
Ireland's few immigrants originated from within Europe and thus were not a large visible
minority. This enabled the government ministers of Ireland to brand Ireland as a
monocultural and homogenous place (Bryan 2008:51; Ging & Malcom 2004: 126; Lentin
2007:612; Smith 2009:93).
Throughout much of the 20th century, Ireland was characterized as a very poor
peripheral country within Europe. Ireland did not have much trade or resource production,
and also had high unemployment rates and a strong and sustained emigration (Bryan
2008:49; Lentin 2007:612; Smith 2009:91 ). Ireland 's high emigration rate has been
explained as a result of postcolonial underdevelopment, individual choice, and/or a national
' tradition' of Irish young adults moving out of the country (Gray 2006a:354).
Ireland was also in major debt in the 20th century due to a number of political
developments. One political development was the Troubles in Northern Ireland, beginning
in the 1960s and lasting into the 1990s. The Troubles began as a Catholic civil rights
movement that escalated into violent civil unrest between the Catholic nationalists and the
Protestant unionists. There was significant loss of human life caused by the military tactics
of both political sides, as well as from the security forces sent over by the United Kingdom
(Battel2003:98). The Troubles required the Republic of Ireland to dramatically increase
its national security, causing a major burden on the state (Batte! 2003:99). This was paired
with the oil crisis in the 1970s, which had a major impact on Ireland as it was heavily
dependent on imported fuel. The oil crisis created a global economic recession, causing the

4

Irish govenunent to dramatically increase its borrowing (Batte! 2003:99; Honohan &
Walsh 2002:3). Thus, when Ireland joined the European Economic Community (EEC), the
forerunner to the European Union (EU), in 1973, it became a major beneficiary of the
structural funds that the EU made available to less developed regions (Fagan 2002: 138).
This situation changed in the mid to late 1990s with Ireland's economic boom,
labeled the 'Celtic Tiger' (Batte! 2002: I 00; Ferreira & Vanhoudt 2004:209; Gray
2006a:356; Honohan & Walsh 2002:5; Smith 2009:91). One factor that ultimately
contributed to the economic boom was Ireland joining the EU, which resulted in a
widening of Ireland's international markets. Because of fiscal and investment incentives,
such as low export rates, Ireland became an ideal location for multinational firms,
including information technology and pharmaceutical industries, seeking to gain access to
EU markets. At the same time, Ireland became an international centre for software
production and development, especially for American information technology companies.
International aid and foreign investment thus became major factors in the rise of the Celtic
Tiger economic boom (Battel2002: 100; Bryan 2008:50; Ferreira & Vanhoudt 2004:209;
Smith 2009:91). The result was a major decrease in the unemployment rate as Ireland
became one of the economic leaders in the EU.
The economic boom caused major change in migration in Ireland. When Ireland's
economy began to strengthen due to foreign investment, the country began to receive
unprecedented numbers of people coming to Ireland. This pattern contrasted to Ireland's
past when the country was defmed as a place of emigration. This immigration into Ireland
was comprised of an array of people, including: economic migrants from EU countries and
other developed states, such as the United States; returning Irish diaspora; and, for the first

5

time in Ireland' s history, large numbers of asylum seekers applying for refugee status
(Battel 2003:95; Fagan 2002:141 ; McVeigh & Lentin 2002:19; Smith 2009: 91).
Statistical data from the Irish state's Reception and Integration Agency (RIA) show
this shift of migration in terms of the numbers of refugee applications between 1991 to
June 2013. In 1991 , before the beginning of the Celtic Tiger, 9 individuals applied for
refugee status. This is compared to the 11 ,634 individuals who applied in 2002 during the
height of the Celtic Tiger (RIA 2013 :2). The RIA statistics illustrate the vast changes that
occurred within Ireland in a very short time frame. Despite Ireland's economy collapsing
and entering into a recession in 2008 (Europa 20 12), individuals continue to seek asylum in
Ireland, though this number dropped to 956 individuals coming to Ireland in 2012 (RIA
2013:2).
It is important to recognize the difference between refugees and other immigrants,
such as economic migrants, and how it may impact integration. Refugees have undergone
a forced migration and include anyone who falls under the Geneva Convention of 1951 ,
which states that the tenn ' refugee' applies to anyone who:
Owing to well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion,
nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside
of the country of his nationality and is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to
avail himself of the protection of that country; or who, not having a nationality and
being outside the country of his former habitual residence as a result of such events,
is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to return to it (UNHCR 2010: 14)
Economic migrants, on the other hand, are individuals who are searching for better jobs
and economic security, and thus choose to migrate to places where they have a better
chance in achieving it (Cortes 2004:465). Though it can be argued that some economic
migrants experience a kind of forced migration due to economic disasters in their country
of origin, economic migrants still have the choice of which country they migrate to, as well
6

as the option of returning to their home country (Cortes 2004:465; Heins 1993:44; Seglow
2005:318). As will be discussed in greater detail in chapter 5 ofthis thesis, refugees seem
to initially integrate more slowly than economic migrants (Cortes 2004:472). However,
studies have shown that over a longer period of time refugees are often more committed
than other migrants to succeeding, both socially and economically, in their new home
country. It has been suggested that trus relates to the fact that many refugees do not have
the same option as other migrants to return home (Cortes 2004:465; UNHCR 2007:5).
Ireland's unique economic and social history creates an interesting context to study
how minority groups integrate into a larger multicultural society. In my research, I will
examine how integration, multiculturalism and interculturalism are used in state policies.
In the development of these policies, it is important to recognize the context in which they
arose: that is, within a neoliberal focused Irish state. According to Harvey:
Neoliberalism is in the first instance a theory of political economic practices that
proposes that human well-being can best be advanced by liberating individual
entrepreneurial freedoms and skills within an institutional framework characterized
by strong private property rights, free markets, and free trade. The role of the state
is to create and preserve an institutional framework appropriate to such practices
(2005:2).
Neoliberalism accomplishes this by "ro lling back the state" and ensuring that key aspects
of the state, such as money, policing, legal structures, and functioning markets, are secured
and protected. Beyond thls, the state has a very minimal role in the social and economic
sectors. " Rolling back the state" results in the "deregulation, privatization, and withdrawal
of the state from many areas of social provision" (Harvey 2005:3). This will be discussed
in greater detail throughout the thesis in regards to how other organizations provide
services previously assumed to be the responsibility of the state; however it is important to

7

recognize the impact of a neoliberal approach on integration policies. A more detailed
discussion of multiculturalism and interculturalism as forms of integration will be provided
in the theory section of this thesis.
In the context of Ireland, multiculturalism and interculturalism are important
themes in the study of the integration of refugees. These themes have been used by various
sectors of society to discuss refugee integration both positively and negatively, which has
in turn affected both the integration and racial ization of refugees. One sector that uses the
themes of multiculturalism and intercultural ism is state policy, which will be analyzed in
greater detail in chapter 4. However, it is important to note that the government is invoking
these terms with specific intents and goals in mind for the purpose of governing the Irish
state. The underlying assumptions of these themes at the government level therefore have
major implications for how these terms are understood within the country (Bryan 2008;
Busbin & White 20 10; Cullen 2009; Fanning 2006, 2011; Gray 2006b; Smith 2008, 2009).
Scholars and academics also have increasingly focused on the themes of
multiculturalism and interculturalism in Ireland. Scholars have written about
multiculturalism and interculturalism in review of government pol icy, as well as in regards
to the interactions between the local community and the diverse groups who are seeking

asylum. Multiculturalism and interculturalism are themes that are used to discuss whether
or not these interactions allow for integration and have included discussions of racism and
racialization (Fanning 2002, 2011; Harrington 2005; Kitching 201 0; Len tin 2002, 2007;
Lentin & McVeigh 2006; McVeigh 2002; McVeigh & Leotin 2002; Warren 2012).

8

These discussions of racism and racialization are important for my research, but it is
first necessary to understand how these scholars are defining racism and evaluating it.
Fanning defmes racism as a term that describes:
Negative attitudes and practices towards persons because of their membership of
groups perceived to differ in physical or cultural characteristics of the perceiver.
The starting point for such claims are beliefs that different races exist and that
membership of a ' race' makes a person innately superior or inferior (Fanning
2002:9).
Following this definition of racism, Fanning describes racialization as the "process of race
thinking by which specific groups of people are 'constructed ' as a ' type ' with reference to
a limited number of physical and cultural characteristics" (Fanning 2002: 12). These two
definitions highlight the importance of these concepts, esp ecially for research such as mine
that focuses on vulnerable communities.
Though the concepts of racism and racialization are important, there must be
caution in extending these terms and their defmiti ons too far and implicating state policies
or programs that may be exclusionary or unbalanced, but not necessarily racist. Kymlicka
describes these exclusionary or unbalanced policies and programs as " unintentional
burdens" that are remnants of past political institutions and rules that were originally
created for a different social and political context (Kymlicka 1998:47). These
"unintentional burdens", which can have real negative consequences for immigrant groups,
come out of a historical context and thus are not specific practices aimed at groups due to
their ethnicity or group membership. Recognizi ng these " unintentional burdens" is not to
dismiss the exclusion that may result, but we must be aware that not all policy or
institutions that may disadvantage members of society are necessarily racist.

9

Thus, it is important for me to be aware of how scholars are presenting and
interpreting policies as being racist and why. By recognizing how other scholars have
presented these policies, I am able to compare their findings to my own. When examining
policy, it is important to keep in mind questions such as what constitutes a racist policy,
what may be an "unintentional burden", and what policy may support integration at the
state level.
State policy is extremely influential in the process of integration. It also is powerful
in creating understandings of nationhood, history, and conceptual spaces available for
integration. It is evident in academic literature, both in general scholarship and the
scholarship specific to Ireland, that policy has major effects on the avenues available for
integration and how successful the integration will be (Benhabib 2005; Bushin & White
2010; Cullen 2009; ECRI 2013; Fanning 2002, 2011; Gray 2006b; Harrington 2005; Yang
2012; Wright & Bloemraad 2012). Therefore, in order to conduct an analysis of refugee
integration in Ireland, it is necessary to examine state policies of integration,
multiculturalism, and interculturalism.
It is also necessary to examine the large number of active NGOs who focus on

advocacy for refugees in order to explore refugees' integration in Ireland. As formal
organizations, the role ofNGOs in integration must be critically analyzed for, as previously
stated, they are in a unique position between the government and refugees. For my
analysis, I examined NGOs that focus specifically on minority advocacy and policy
recommendation in order to explore what the role ofNGOs is in refugee integration in
Ireland.

10

The unique context of the Republic of Ireland must be recognized in order to better
explore my research questions. The history of poverty and exclusion as a colonial
landscape has direct impacts on the local understanding of what it means to be the
dominant 'White' Irish culture and how ethnic minority groups are then able to integrate
with this identity (Fanning 2002; Inglis 2008; Peatling 2005; Shubin 201 0; Whelan 2007;
Whelan & Maitre 201 0). Some scholars, such as Ronit Lentin, believe that Ireland has an
old wound from its colonial past that has not yet healed (Lentin 2002:228). This wound
has created specific understandings of integration and multiculturalism that differ from
other countries, and in turn has created specific approaches to how policy is enacted and
how it relates to the lived experience of integration.
1.2 Geographical Context
In order to keep my research feasible, I used the city of Dublin as the geographic

area and context for my study. Recognizing that as the capital city and a large urban centre
Dublin may not represent all of Ireland in its refugee integration experience, it still
provides a valid geographical context for my thesis. As the capital city, Dublin is an
important site for refugee integration in Ireland. The Irish government offices are located
in Dublin and are often used for government-related meetings. Most of the prominent
NGOs in Ireland also have their main offices in Dublin. The concentration ofNGOs in
Dublin is tied to the fact that Dublin is almost exclusively the point of arrival for new
asylum seekers.
Dublin is also an interesting geographical context for my thesis as it is part of a
project called the Intercultural Cities Programme, which includes around 50 cities mostly
from Europe, but also from around the world. These cities are chosen because they all look

11

at interculturalism in an engaged and interactive manner (Council of Europe, 20 14).
According to the Council of Europe website:
The Intercultural cities programme supports cities in reviewing their policies
through an intercultural lens and developing comprehensive intercultural strategies
to help them manage diversity positively and realise the diversity advantage. The
programme proposes a set of analytical and practical tools to help local stakeholders
through the various stages of the process (Council of Europe, 20 14).
Cities share information with one another and compare and contrast different models,
ideas, and ways of doing progr ams to faci litate interculturalism (Interview 2 July 18,
2014:4). 1
Finally, Dublin is an interesting case study as it is governed at the municipal level
by the Dublin City Council (DCC), which has its own Office of Integration. The DCC
Office of Integration focuses specifically on integration within the city boundaries of
Dublin and thus adds another level of government that affects refugees' integration. For
these reasons, Dublin makes a good research site for my thesis.

1.3 Conclusion
ln this thesis, I will seek to answer the research questions that ! laid out at the

beginning of this chapter. In order to answer these research questions, chapter 2 will first
provide the theoretical framework of my study. I based my research in a multi-theoretical
approach that includes migration theory, integration theory, multicultural theory, and social
capital theory. This is followed by a detailed discussion of my methods in chapter 3. This
discussion will include the primary data collection methods that I used before and during
the fieldwork, as well as the secondary research and analysis methods used after the

1
The style used for the Interview citations include the number indicating the chronological order in which
they were conducted, the date they were conducted, and the transcription page number. This citation style is
used for the purpose of the interviewees' anonymity.

12

fieldwork was completed. I also explain how I approached research ethics in my study.
Next, I will present two analysis chapters. In chapter 4, I will examine integration at both
the state and local government levels, including discussions of both government structures
and policies concerning refugee integration. In chapter 5, I will discuss the lived
experience of integration by exploring the role ofNGOs in refugee integration, as well as
how refugees experience integration themselves. This chapter includes a case study that
illustrates NGOs' mediating role in the integration of refugees, as well as examples of how
refugees understand and explain their own integration. In chapter 6, I provide the
conclusions and present topics for further discussion.

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Chapter 2: Theory
This thesis draws on multiple theories to create an interdisciplinary theoretical
framework. This interdisciplinary framework guides my exploration and examination of
social and cultural phenomena related to my research topic. I base my research in an
interdisciplinary approach and in the intersection of several theoretical frameworks,
including migration theory; integration theory; multicultural theory; social capital; and
feminist theory and methodology.
2.1 Interdisciplinary Approach
Part of my thesis' interdisciplinary nature is its grounding in both Anthropology and
Political Science. These two fields provide a framework that is beneficial for answering
my research questions that would not exist in either discipline independently.
Anthropology and Political Science share a common characteristic of seeking to produce
systematic knowledge about how power is exercised in politics in diverse societies
{Aronoff & Kubik 2013:2). However, the different approaches in Anthropology and
Political Science to studying power and politics cause them to produce different bodies of
knowledge. Aronoff and Kubik (2013) highlight the variation in data as stemming from the
traditional differences in the goals and focus of the disciplines. Anthropologists
traditionally focused on single cases that favoured rich narrative descriptions and worked
towards the discipi ine 's goal of interpretation of the case or event to allow for greater
comparative research with other descriptive cases (Aronoff & Kubik 2013:3; Ember et al
2009:2). Political Scientists, according to Aronoff and Kubik, traditionally looked at a
larger number of cases, separating data into variables that relate to one another in order to
study relationships through hypotheses and scientific inquiry with the goal of generaJ

14

explanation (Aronoff & Kubik 2013:3; Jackson & Jackson 2000:6). It must be recognized,
however, that there is now significant overlap between the disciplines' approaches and that
these two fields are not as distinctly polarized as these generalizations suggest. Both
anthropologists and political scientists now use focused case studies and/or multiple case
studies in their research, thus these two disciplines are compatible for an interdisciplinary
study.
My research developed out of the complementary nature of these two disciplines in
the exploration of cultural and political systems. The benefit of using these disciplines
together is that they can provide valuable insights through the comparison of the different
bodies of knowledge they produce and the different types of questions they ask. What is
useful for my research is the ability to draw on the disciplines ' different theories and
methodologies that when combined allow for a more holistic examination of refugee
integration in Ireland.

2.2 Migration Theory
Migration theory is one of the interdisciplinary theories that I use in my research.
Migration theory is interdisciplinary by nature as it studies the various reasons and impacts
of the movement of people and how migration affects all levels of social existence (Castles
2010: 1569). Migration theory is closely connected to theories of globalization and how
international migration leads to community formation and social and cultural change
(Castles 2002: 1144; Glick Schiller & Caglar 2009: 179-180). An important concept in
migration theory is the connection of migration to broader social relationships and
processes of change (Castles 20 I 0: 1566). In his article, Castles refers "to these processes
as social transformation, as a convenient label to facilitate discussion of the complexity,

15

interconnectedness, variability, contextuality and multi-level mediations ofglobal change"
(Castles 2010: 1566 italics in original). Migration theory is therefore useful for exploring
international migration to Ireland.
Social transformation, as defined by Castles, is "a fundamental shift in the way
society is organized that goes beyond the continual processes of incremental social change
that are always at work" (Castles 20 I0: 1576). Ireland' s economic and social historical
processes provide excellent examples of how migration affects culture and society.
Migration theory provides the theoretical framework for discussing certain concepts and
questions that affect the social transformation of a particular place. Some of the concepts
and/or questions that migration theory asks concern the impacts of transnational migration
on refugees and/or their integration (Castles 2010; Glick Schiller & Caglar 2009) and how
the governance of migration relates to policies of multiculturalism, interculturalism and
integration (Bryan 2008; Kymlicka 1995, 2001 ).
Through migration theory, it is also possible to explore questions of social
transformation that look at the social interactions that take place after migration has
occurred. These questions include: how spatial control is used in response to migrants
(Bushin & White 201 0; Smith 2009); what the roles ofNGO advocacy groups are in
response to refugees (Barasko 2005; Cullen 2009); and how racism affects refugees
(Fanning 2011; Lentin & McVeigh 2006; McVeigh & Lentin 2002). These are valuable
points of inquiry because they explore social dimensions between marginalized groups and
socially dominant or powerful groups. Migration theory is thus important to my multitheoretical approach. It connects the research community to the larger global context of the
movement of refugees and why they are moving and, importantly for my research, what

16

happens when they arrive at their destination and stop moving. Migration theory also
focuses on the chan ges in society connected to the presence of refugees which recognizes
the dynamic relationship of integration between the dominant society and refugees.

In my research I recognize that refugee migration has many different stages, all of
which affect individuals and their personal well-being (Ager 1999:2). Ager separates
refugee migration into four stages: pre-flight; flight; reception; and settlement (Ager
1999:3-9). Each stage includes its own stresses and impacts on refugees ' experience of
migration and their physical, mental, and emotional well-being. In Ireland, reception is the
time asylum seekers spend waiting for their refugee applications to be processed. My
research focuses on the end stage of migration after refugee status has been granted and
how refugees settle into Irish society. However, I recognize the previous stages of the
migration process and address them when they have a direct impact on refugees' settlement
in Ireland. Settlement represents the time after asylum seekers have been granted refugee
status and are living and interacting with the dominant Irish society. In examining
settlement as the last stage of migration, I use integration theory to explore how refugees
are or are not integrated into the Irish society. In this examination, I draw on the concepts
of multiculturalism and intercultural ism as a way to explore how the integration process is
happening in Ireland.
2.3 Integration Theory
Another theory I use in my research is integration theory. In my application of
integration theory, I draw on discussions of multiculturalism and interculturalism. How
these different terms relate will be discussed in further detail below; however it is

17

important to recognize that they are closely interconnected. Though the policy applications
of these terms may vary, the theoretical foundations are the same.
Integration theory looks at how a population that contains diversity, including
ethnic, religious, or other forms of difference, functions to create a cohesive society with a
mutual understanding of commonality. Integration theory studies the social bonds that tie a
community together and the process of how individuals from outside of the community
attempt to take part and enter into those social bonds (Blau 1960:546). Integration theory
also focuses on the maintenance of a cohesive society that occurs through state institutions
and policies that create and regulate spaces of integration (Ruiz-Tagle 2013 :398). Space,
in this sense, is both physical and ideological. Physical space relates to the physical
geography of where interaction and integration occurs, such as in schools or libraries.
Ideological space refers to the policies and governance structures that faci litate integration.
The need for integration arises when an establ ished society is faced with individuals who
seek entrance and are perceived as being 'di fferent' by both themselves and the society
they are seeking to enter (Modood 20 13: 146).
Yet what does the integration of' different' individuals include and when can an
individual be considered integrated? Integration can be measured and understood to
function at two levels (Murphy 20 12:66). One level is the creation of state institutions or
policies that aid in the integration of individuals seeking entrance, such as immigrants or
refugees (Modood 20 13:6; Parekh 2006:204). These state institutions and policies result in
the physical manifestations of integration that may impact various aspects of society, such
as employment, education, housing, political involvement, and ease of access to the
citizenship process (Kymlicka 1998:26; Modood 2013:146; Parekh 2009:43). All ofthese

18

indicators of integration focus on the inclusion of individuals at the state and public level,
creating both physical and ideological spaces that allow for the integration of new or
'different ' individuals.
The other level of integration occurs at the more individual or personal level. This
form of integration takes into account an individual ' s sense of belonging, identity, and
emotional connection to the community and/or place. This personal or emotional level of
integration can be measured through an individual ' s own sense and feeling of their position
in society, their connection to both their place of origin and their new country of residence,
and their sense of being an active or involved member of society (Kymlicka 1998:49,53;
Lovell2003:4; Modood 2013:147; Parekh 2009:40; Smith 2009:89). This level of
integration also relates to the personal decisions of individuals, such as whether or not they
develop friendships and/or intermarry across ethnic and cultural boundaries, and if they
decide to seek citizenship in their new home country (Kymlicka 1998:54). Integration
considered at this level is more subjective and can vary between people, or even between
one individual ' s experiences and feel ings. These two levels of integration are not mutually
exclusive, as individuals may use physical manifestations of integration as evidence,
measurement or examples that they are personally integrating. For example, as discussed
in chapter 5, many refugees refer to their employment or the fact that they are learning
English as evidence of their integration into Irish society.
As integration occurs at these two levels, it is recognized that both state and/or
public institutions and individuals have a role to play, if an individual is to be considered
'integrated'. Parekh explains this as a moral contract that is made between the integrating
individual and the society (Parekh 2009:40). The individual has a moral and emotional

19

commjtment to the society, which can be expressed by valuing the society's well-being,
respecting society's structure of authority and laws, and fulfilling their roles and
obligations as citizens, including finding employment and participating in everyday life
(Modood 20 13: 147; Parekh 2009:42). The individual must also have enough cultural
understanding to navigate the society's social structures and, perhaps in time, come to
value and internalize cultural norms into their social and personal identity (Parekh
2009:42).
Since integration is a two way process, it should include the receiving society's
moral responsibilities and commitments to the integrating individuals. Part of the moral
responsibilities of a society or state to the integrating members is to remove as much as
possible any hindrances to integration that may exist. These hindrances can include
material, social, cultural, and political disadvantages (Parekh 2009:45), such as the inability
to participate in politics and political activities due to language barriers. By providing
policies or programs (such as language and other educational programs) that address these
disadvantages, societies can provide the physical and ideological spaces that allow for the
integration of newcomers. Policies that promote integration at the society or state level can
include: access to various levels of employment and the proper training for employment,
such as language and computer skills; access to housing and residential integration; and
ease of gaining citizensrup and participating in political actions (Kymlicka 1998: 19;
Modood 20 13: I 46; Parekh 2009:44-45).
Integration theory thus provides a strong framework for examining integration
policies at the Irish state level and the lived experience of refugee integration. By using the
different indicators of integration present in state policies and the refugees ' own emotional

20

or personal understandings of integration, I am able to explore integration in Ireland in a
more holistic way. Integration theory's focus on these indicators helped determine the
methods I used in my research in order to gain the data necessary to explore refugee
integration in Ireland.
2.4 M ulticuJturalism

Integration theory is a large, overarching research theory. Though it provides
discussions on some of the moral understandings of integration and some of the markers of
integration, integration itself can take multiple forms (Modood 2013: 146). In order to
explore integration in Ireland, I used the social and political theory of multiculturalism.
Multiculturalism itself is a broad concept that is used in multiple ways and can represent
various ideas, some of which can be conflicting and potentially detrimental to political and
social policies (Murphy 2012:3; Wieviorka 1998:882). It is necessary to explore the
different forms multiculturalism can take in order to discuss the use of this concept as a
social and political theory for studying integration.
Wieviorka states that the confusion with the term ' multiculturalism' is because it
does not have only one definition but can refer to theory, policy, or fact, which can be
analytically distinguished from each other (Wieviorka 1998:883). Wieviorka states that
care must be taken when applying these different understandings of multiculturalism in
order to keep the differences clear when comparing them to one another, and to recognize
that there may not be direct connections between these forms of multiculturalism
(Wieviorka 1998:883-884). Wieviorka ' s discussion of multiculturalism is very useful , as it
highl ights the importance of recognizing the difference between multiculturalism as a
political philosophy or theory from the multicultural policies that are adopted by particular

21

states (Murphy 2012:4). That is, just because a policy claims to be multicultural, it does
not mean that it necessarily represents multiculturalism as it is understood by theorists.
Due to the diversity of understandings and usages of multiculturalism, such as the
variations that exist within multicultural political philosophy (Kymlicka 1998:22; Murphy
2012:4), it is necessary to be clear about how I will be using multiculturalism as a social
and political theory to examine integration into Ireland. Following along the political
philosophy presented by Modood, I will use the term multiculturalism as a specific mode
of integration that recognizes integration as a two way process between individuals, and the
state and society (Modood 2013: 146). Murphy develops this further, stating that in this
approach "multiculturalism advocates policies which seek to accommodate the different
identities, values and practices of both dominant and non-dominant cultural groups in [a]
culturally diverse society" (Murphy 20 12:6). This indicates that the task for multicultural
political philosophy is to provide the moral justification of the policies (Murphy 20 12:6).
Central to this approach to multiculturalism is understanding how it functions as a
mode of integration. Multiculturalism that defmes integration as a two way process can be
used to explore the ethics of promoting social cohesion in society. Multiculturalism as a
social and political theory encourages the creation of policies that are fair and supportive to
both the dominant culture and to ethnic minorities, such as immigrants who represent one
of the central forms of cultural diversity within a society (Kymlicka 1998:52,55; Modood
2013:5). The ethical approaches promoted by multiculturalism include the establishment
of policies that endorse ethnic and racial tolerance; highlight official and state support for
multiculturalism; and provide funding for events that encourage cross-cultural interactions,
all of which will affect not just the integrating members, but recognize that the society

22

itself must be included in the integration process (Kymlicka 1998:45-46; Murphy
2012: 119; Parekh 2009:47). An important point raised by multicultural theorists is that fair
and supportive policies will not necessarily be the same for the dominant society and
cultural minorities. Kymlicka states that integration is a long-term process that may take
generations, therefore special accommodations may be required for immigrants (Kymlicka
1998:52). Parekh develops a similar idea by stating that in order to provide equal
opportunities for marginal ized groups it may be necessary to grant them not only different
but additional rights (Parekh 2006:262). These special or additional accommodations may
include policies such as affirmative action programs to increase minority representation in
the civil service, inclusion of different cultural histories and literature in the education
curriculum, accommodation of cultural and/or religious dress and dietary codes, and
flex ible work hours in recognition of different religious holidays (Kymlicka 1998:42;
Murphy 2012: 117).
Policies, such as these listed, not only create the ideological and physical spaces for
integration, but are also aimed at changing the attitudes and receptiveness of the society
towards immigrants. In his advocacy of two way integration, Parekh explains the
importance of a receptive society for integration. stating,'" We' cannot integrate ' them ' so
long as 'we ' remain 'we' ; 'we' must be loosened up to create a new common space in
which ' they' can be accommodated and become part of a newly reconstituted 'we '"
(Parekh 2006:204). In my research, I apply this theoretical approach to the questions of
how or if refugees are accommodated and included in the ideological and physical spaces
in Ireland.

23

As multicultural policy represents only one form through which integration can take
place, it is necessary to recognize that there may be other policies present in Ireland that
may also have an impact on refugee integration (Modood 2013:146; Parekh 2009:44-45).
Murphy states that when examining integration:
It is important to bear in mind that multicultural policies comprise only one small
part of the legislative toolbox available to governments in their efforts to integrate
newcomers, and may in fact be far less important than things like a fair and
expeditious naturalization policy; an immigrant selection system that achieves a
manageable rate of migrant intake, and whlch more efficiently matches entrants
with appropriate labour-market opportunities; or a foreign-credential recognition
program that helps ensure that migrants with professional backgrounds are not
unfairly disadvantaged in employment competitions (Murphy 2012: 120).

Multicultural policies may overlap with these other policies, but it is important to recognize
that multiculturalism may not be the only driving force behind integration in these
situations. Economics and other social factors may be equally or even more important than
policies that focus on integration (Murphy 2012: 10). For example, economics and the
labour market may drive the immigrant selection system that is used when immigrants
apply for citizenship, which encourages faster integration in society through access to
work. Faster integration in this situation is based on the fact that the immigrant has the
specific skills for which the labour market is selecting (Murphy 2012:1 0). Thus in this case
integration is based on skill set rather than a desire for cultural or ethnic diversity, although
integration into the workforce can assist integration into society. In the context of
neoliberal Ireland, this may result in immigrants, including refugees, becoming active
agents in their own integration by seeking employment and/or receiving training to increase
their skill set from programs outside of government integration services in order to become
economically contributing members of the community.

24

2.5 Interculturalism
There has been a recent change by both scholars and policymakers from using the
term "multiculturalism" to using "interculturali sm". Multiculturalism has come under
critique by some scholars as being assimilationist and a flawed system of integration that
homogenizes society through defined boundaries of allowable difference (Bryan 2008;
Chin 1992; Gunew 1997; Lentin 2002; Lentin & McVeigh 2006; McVeigh & Lentin 2002;
Schrottner 2012). For instance, Schrottner describes multiculturalism as promoting
policies that highlight the cultural differences and target against social and economic
disadvantages, such as racism and exclusion, experienced by ethnic minority groups
(Schrottner 20 12:24). While promoting positive aspects, Schrottner critiques
multiculturalism as defining minority cultures as homogenous groups that does not allow
for cultural variations w ithin the defined ' Other· (Schrottner 20 12:24). For Schrottner,
multiculturalism is therefore merely a lesser form of assimilation. This critique is also
voiced by Lentin specific to the Irish case. Lentin argues that multiculturalism developed as
a way to 'deal' with those who fa iled to assimilate. She states that this anchors
multiculturalism in two contradictory discourses where, on one hand, it demands universal
equality for all citizens and on the other, it creates a politics of difference between the
visible "civilized grandeur of the majority" and "the invi sibility of minority
dehumanization" in western culture (Lentin 2002:230,232). Thus in Ireland, a common
approach to the multicultural debate has been to replace the term multiculturalism with the
term interculturalism (Ging & Malcolm 2004; Nic Craith 2012; Watt 2006).
Intercultural ism recognizes the interaction of multiple cultures within one society and
emphasizes the dynamics that exist between cultures, including between dominant and

25

minority cultures, and the potential that cultures have to learn from each other through
dialogue and reciprocity (Ging & Malcolm 2004: 127; Nic Craith 2012: 15; Watt 2006: 154).
In response to these critiques, it is important to note that many of the criticisms
levied against multiculturalism stem from the conflation of the three different forms of
multiculturalism laid out by Wieviorka (1998:883-884): multiculturalism as theory, policy,
or fact. These critiques assume that the concept of multiculturalism has only one meaning
in each situation to which it is applied. This can also be seen in the connection between the
theory of interculturalism that is used by academics and the practice of intercultural ism as
used by the Irish government. In Ireland there is a goal to be distinct from the British
political model of multiculturalism. In the British model minority groups are allowed to
exist in their own smaller communities under the overarching umbrella of white British
culture. There is a distinct separation that exists between the dominant culture and the
minority cultures with the understanding that cultural influence will only flow from the top
dominant culture down to the minority cultures (Interview 2, July 18, 2014: 14); in other
words, a one-way process. The focus on intercuJturaJism thus became a way to discuss
integration that allowed the Irish theorists and politicians to create an ideological
distinction from the British multicultural model. Therefore, though the critiques presented
by Schrottner and Len tin may be true within certain social settings of specific multicultural
policies, I do not believe that they are relevant to how I will be using multiculturalism as a
mode of integration at the level of political theory. In this thesis, 1 use the political theory
of multiculturalism presented in the previous section, which is distinct from the British
model and its subsequent critiques.

26

With this in mind, the assumed differences between multicultural and intercultural
theory are not in fact as sharp as they first seemed (Lentin 2002; Meer & Modood
20 ll: 176). The defining characteristic of interculturalism is said to be its ability to
facilitate dialogue and to encourage exchange and reciprocal relationships and
understandings between people from different backgrounds, and importantly to not
eliminate differences w hile creating a common identity (Bouchard & Taylor 2008:287;
Meer & Modood 2011: 182). In their discussion on integration through interculturalism,
Bouchard and Taylor define integration in a democracy as:
The array of processes whereby a community organizes institutions, social relations
and culture in a way that leads to the support of the greatest number of its members.
From an individual standpoint, it is the array of choices by virtue of which a citizen
participates full y if he [sic] so desires in the life of the host society, especially in the
public sphere, and develops according to this traits and outlook (Bouchard & Taylor
2008:287). 2
Following Modood, Murphy, Parekh and Kymlicka, I argue that this definition of
interculturalism does not differ in any significant way from an understanding of
multiculturalism as a mode of integration and as a social and political theory. I am using
multiculturalism to explore integration as occurring at two levels (personally and publicly),
just as Bouchard and Taylor present in their definition of integration through
interculturalism. In order for integration to occur in a fair and ethical manner between the
dominant society and immigrants, multicultural theory suggests that specialized policies
may be required that recognize minority groups' socially, culturally, and politically
2

Interculturalism as promoted by Bouchard and Taylor (2008) is distinct from Quebec interculturaJism.
Quebec interculturalism developed in response to Canadian multiculturalism and "affirms the primacy of the
Quebec state in the areas of politics and identity and challenges the reductionist notion that Quebec is a
monolithic ethnic group" (Gagnon & lacovino 2005:28). Quebec interculturalism promotes a pluralistic
community within the province that requires minorities to adopt certain communal values, specifically
speaking the French Quebecois language (Chiasson 2012 :3; Gagnon & Iacovino 2005:31). This form of
interculturaJism has been criticized for requiring minorities to accommodate the majority in order to preserve
the majority culture (Chaisson 2012: 12).

27

marginalized position in society. Multiculturalism is a social and political theory of
integration that focuses on the diversity between or amongst cultures and how this diversity
can be politically and socially incorporated through mutual accommodation (Kymlicka
1998:41; Modood 2011:190, 2013:6; Murphy 2012:6; Parekh 2006:240, 2009:48). Thus in
my research, I use multiculturalism as the theoretical analytical tool for studying modes of
integration. I recognize that the term interculturalism is included in Irish policy and social
discussions in accordance with the preferred term used in Ireland; however, as discussed
above, it is important to recognize that this usage of interculturalism in Ireland stems from
a desire to distinguish itself from a form of British multiculturalism (Interview 2 July 18,
2014: 14).
2.6 Social Capital Theory
Recognition of the heterogeneity of almost all societies globally is significant to the
study of integration. In these heterogeneous communities, most of the increase in ethnic
diversity has been a result of immigration (Putnam 2007: 137). Immigration, and the
resulting ethnic diversity it causes, have an impact on both the bounded community that is
being immigrated into, as well as the individuals who are doing the immigrating. One
useful theory for studying human diversity within a defined community is social capital
theory.
One of the most influential figures within social capital theory and social policy
debates is Robert Putnam (Fanning 2011 :36). According to Putnam, "social capital refers
to connections among individuals - social networks and the norms of reciprocity and
trustworthiness that arise from them" (Putnam 2000: 19). Social capital includes all forms
of social networks, including: politics; community institutions such as clubs; religious

28

bodies; work organizations; and informal social ties like bowling leagues and friendships
(Putnam 2000:27). Social capital differs from other forms of capital such as human capital
and physical capital. Human capital refers to the tools and training that enhance an
individual ' s productivity (Putnam 2000:18). Physical capital refers to the physical tools
available to an individual (Putnam 2000: 19). Concerning social capital, Putnam argues:
The core idea of social capital theory is that social networks have value. Just as a
screwdriver (physical capital) or a college education (human capital) can increase
productivity (both individual and collective), so too social contacts affect the
productivity of individuals and groups (Putnam 2000: 19).
Putnam further states that social capital may not always be positive for individuals outside
of the social networks and that there are different forms of social capital (Putnam 2000:21 ).
Two important forms of social capital are bonding and bridging. Bonding social
capital refers to exclusive social networks that reinforce seemingly homogenous groups
and identities. Bonding social capital represents the ties between people who are alike in
some important way, whether it is ethnicity, gender, religion, or other social identifications
(Putnam 2007: 143). Bridging social capital represents inclusive networks that are "better
for linkages to external assets and for information diffusion" (Putnam 2000:22). Bridging
social capital results in broader identities and reciprocity, and creates ties to people who are
unlike or different from each other in some form (Putnam 2000:23 , 2007: 143).
Putnam argues that bonding social capital may create strong out-group antagonism
by supporting strong in-group loyalty, however bonding and bridging social capital are not
necessarily inversely related to one another (Putnam 2000:23, 2007: 144). As Putnam
states, increased bonding social capital may be compatible with increased bridging social
capital, just as decreased bonding social capital may be compatible with decreased bridging
social capital (Putnam 2007: 144). Due to social capital's large range of networks, groups

29

are often simultaneously bonding along some social networks and bridging across others.
Examples of this include bonding along racial social ties that bridge across class, or
bonding along religious networks that bridge across ethnicity (Putnam 2000:23).
Social capital theory is very useful when exploring the integration of outside
individuals into a bounded community. How both bonding and bridging social capital are
utilized in the integration process, or conversely against the integration process, are
important factors for understanding how diversity may affect a community. Social capital
theory has been used by both Putnam (2007) and Fanning (20 11) in discussions on the
impact of ethnic diversity on a community. In the short-term timeframe, immigration and
ethnic diversity tend to reduce social solidarity and social capital by lowering trust and
community cooperation, both between and within ethnic groups (Fanning 2011 :8; Putnam
2007: 13 7). However, in the long-term social capital argues that immigration and ethnic
diversity will have cultural, economic, fiscal and developmental benefits as communities
and societies create and/or recreate socially hyphenated identities that encompass diversity
(Fanning 201 1:49; Putnam 2007:137).
2.7 Feminist Theory and Methodology
Important to my research is understanding the lived experience of integration from
the perspective of the refugee. Included in this perspective is the refugee 's sense of
belonging and how slhe understands and/or interprets what it means to be integrated. I use
feminist theory to guide my methodology to add the voice of the refugee to the research
and to allow for an analysis that will examine the relationship between the policy of
integration and multiculturalism/interculturalism and the lived experience of that policy.

30

Feminist theory is very applicable to social research. This includes research that
does not focus speci fi cally on women' s issues or issues of gender. There is a plethora of
examples that can be found where feminist theory goes beyond a focus on women and is
used as an approach to the methods in order to focus on marginalized communities (see
Lyon-Callo 2008).
Drawing from feminist theory, my research focuses on issues of agency and voice
ofNGO advocates and refugees. Within feminist theory, agency is understood to be the
capacity of people to recognize their own interests against the weight of custom, tradition,
transcendental will, and other social obstacles, both individual and collective (Allen
1999:68; Mahmood 2013:536). It involves the search or desire for autonomy and selfexpression, and the recognition of individual power and influence (Allen 1999:68;
Mahmood 2013:536). An individual 's agency can be understood through selfdetermination, which is an ongoing process of exercising individual will and the ability to
take charge of one's life and construct self-narratives independent from the dominant
society (Meyers 2002:4). Agency provides a theoretical framework for recognizing how
NGO advocates and refugees have individual autonomy and power separate from the state,
and the role they can personally have in influencing their own integration.
Concerning issues of voice, feminist theory recognizes that there are voices that are
silenced systematically and oppressed by groups or individuals with power (Lugones &
Spelman 2013: 18; Meyers 2002:4). Feminist theory focuses on how individual parts oflife
fit together and relate, and how individuals locate the self concretely in this life and the
world. Following this, voice provides a way to understand and examine the extent to which
the self is responsible (or not) for its location in the world . Voice also provides criteria for

31

change and suggestions for modes of resistance that relate to the particular voices involved.
Importantly, through the concept of voice, feminist theory argues that theory should have
an applied aspect that is accessible to the individuals interested in resistance (Lugones &
Spelman 2013:21-22). [n feminist theory, voice is the recognition of an individual ' s abi lity
to tell their own life story apart from the dominant voices in society (Meyers 2002:4).
Feminist theory is therefore very applicable to any form of social research and has
moral qualities in recognizing groups and individuals in oppressed or minority situations.
Feminist theory also dictates methodological approaches for how to conduct research with
groups, including learning to become '·unintrusive, unimportant, patient to the point of
tears, while at the same time open to learning any possible lessons" (Lugones & Spelman
2013:23). Feminist theory therefore provides a strong framework for my methodology of
community based research, because of its focus on the importance of the research
community. Following on this discussion of how theory shapes methodology, I will
discuss the methods I used in my research and how they are grounded in feminist
methodology and community based research in the following chapter.

32

Chapter 3: Methods
Having established my theoretical framework, in this chapter I will present the
methodology and methods used in my research study. As mentioned in the previous
chapter, I used community based research and feminist methodology to focus my research
on NGOs and refugees in a collaborative and engaged model of enquiry. Stoecker provides
three general principles guiding community based research: 1) collaborative enterprise
between researchers and community members; 2) validating multiple sources of knowledge
and promoting the use of multiple methods of discovery and disseminating the knowledge
produced; and 3) the goal of social action and social change for the purpose of enhancing
social justice (Stoecker 2003:35). Community based research is thus an approach to
research that views community members as active participants. Community based research
also influences how the research conclusions are published in accessible and usable formats
for the stakeholders of the study (Stoecker 2003:36).
Grounded in this community based research and feminist methodology, my research
analysis consisted of using a top-down and bottom-up approach. The top-down approach
entailed reviewing state policies and structures that were developed for refugee integration.
The bottom-up approach explored refugees' understanding and experiences of integration
in Ireland. NGOs were included as a mediator between top-down and the bottom-up
integration as they represent informal governing bodies in Ireland.
This chapter outlines the methods I used in my research. I first define my research
community and the reasons why I chose to focus on this particular community. I then
discuss each of my methods, including policy analysis and ethnographic research,

33

specifically participant observation and semi-structured interviews. I end the chapter with
a discussion of the methods of analysis that I used after the fieldwork was completed.
3.1 The Research Community
For this thesis, my targeted research community was refugees. I focus on refugees
because they represent a marginalized group in society. Refugees have undergone a forced
migration and include anyone who falls under the Geneva Convention of 195 1 definition,
as mentioned in chapter 1. Other immigrants, such as economic migrants, have chosen to
migrate to Ireland and are allowed to work in their new home country. Economic
migrants' needs and the state policy that applies to them are therefore different than those
for refugees. Importantly, economic migrants generally maintain stronger connections to
their country of origin and retain the option of returning if they so choose (Cortes
2004:465).
In Ireland, the term ' refugee' is applied to multiple groups of people who fall under
different legal categories and may have different rights and obligations from one another
(Citizens Information, Functions of Local Authorities, 20 15). Recently there have been
proposed changes to Ireland's immigration law in the form of the General Scheme of the
International Protection Bill (proposed March 25 , 20 15), a piece of legislation which aims
to introduce a single application procedure for protection (Citizens Information, Functions
of Local Authorities, 20 15). This has been a major political issue for some NGO advocacy
groups (Conlan 20 14; The Integration Centre 20 14:23, 25-26), however, until this bill is
passed the people seeking protection in Ireland are still separated into different categories,
including: convention refugees; programme refugees; subsidiary protection; and leave to
remam.

34

Convention refugees are individuals who fulfill the requirements of the definition of
a refugee defined by the Geneva Convention in the Refugee Act, 1996. While waiting for
their refugee application to be processed, individuals have "leave to remain" in Ireland as
asylum seekers and are entitled to emergency accommodation and health and social welfare
supports (Citizens Information, Functions of Local Authorities, 20 15; Department of
Justice, Equality and Law Reform 1999:8). This is the general legal category of refugees
which I refer to in my thesis.
Programme refugees are another legal category in Ireland. These are individuals
who have been invited to Ireland by the government in response to a humanitarian crisis,
usually in response to a request from United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
(UNHCR). These individuals generally have the same rights as convention refugees,
however they may only require temporary protection or resettlement and may therefore not
be long-term residents in Ireland (Citizens Information, Functions of Local Authorities,
2015; Department of Justice, Equality, and Law Reform 1999:8-9).
There are also two other legal categories related to the term ' refugee' that are
granted in particular circumstances: subsidiary protection and leave to remain. Subsidiary
protection applies to someone who may not fulfill the defmition of a refugee, but has
proven on 'substantial grounds' that if returned to their country of origin they would risk
serious harm (Citizens Information, Functions of Local Authorities, 20 15). Asylum
seekers may submit an application for subsidiary protection at the same time as they submit
a refugee application. Leave to remain is given to individuals who do not qualify for
refugee status or subsidiary protection, but who for humanitarian or other reasons may be
given leave to remain in Ireland (Citizens Information, Functions of Local Authorities,

35

2015; Department of Justice, Equality, and Law Reform 1999:9). Individuals who have
leave to remain have similar rights to individuals who have been granted refugee status.
Though I generally focus on convention refugees, there is significant overlap of the legal
categories in regards to the individuals who make use ofNGO services.
It is important to have a sense of who these refugees are: what are their numbers;
their gender breakdown; and where are they coming from. Finding specific information on
the numbers of convention refugees in Ireland is difficult, therefore I pulled from various
data sets and collated the information in order to provide a sense of their demographic
profile. This includes an estimate of the number of convention refugees in Ireland, as well
as their main countries of origin. From 2002 to the end of February 2016, there were 3,912
positive recommendations granting refugee status out of a total of 63,535 processed cases
(ORAC 2016:3). These positive recommendations represent the first application round and
do not reflect the number of individuals who may have been accepted after the various
appeal processes. It must be recognized that these numbers do not directly relate to the
number of applications for refugee status between the years of 2002 to 2016. Ireland bas a
slow processing timeframe and individuals can live in Direct Provision for many years
while waiting for their application results. Between 2002 and February 2016, there were
42,104 applications for refugee status in Ireland (ORAC 2016: 1; RIA 2014:7 3). The
difference between the number of cases processed (63,535) and the total number of
applications (42,1 04) is 21,431. This number represents those individuals who had applied
for refugee status prior to 2002.

3 Out of the 42,104 applications for refugee status, there were 40,882 new applications and 1,222 re-

applications (ORAC 20 16: l ). RIA's Annual Reports combine the two categories of new applications and reapplications under the title 'Applications for Declaration as a Refugee' and does not differentiate between
them (RIA 2014:7).

36

Again statistics on the gender breakdown for refugees is not available, however, we
can get a general sense of that breakdown based on asylum seeker statistics. There have
been shifts in the gender ratios of individuals seeking asylum in Ireland over the years.
From 1998 to 2003, many of the individuals seeking asylum were women, as indicated by
the statistics on Nigerian migrants alone where the ratio was on average approximately two
females to every one male asylum seeker (Smith 2008:65). RIA did not provide statistics
on the gender ratio until the 2007 Annual Report, at which time the ratio had shifted to
more men than women seeking asylum. In 2007, there was a total of3,203 men and 2,689
women asylum seekers living in Direct Provision (RIA 2007:22-26). This trend of more
men than women migrating is typical and has continued. For example in 2015, there was a
total of 4,814 individuals living in the Direct Provision Accommodation System: 2,889
were male; 1,770 were female; and 155 were unidentified (likely minors) (RIA 2015:7).
It is difficult to identify the country of origin for convention refugees as this
information is not provided by the government agencies. However, by reviewing RIA's
Annual Reports and Monthly Statistics, it is possible to identify the country of origin for
asylum seekers applying for refugee status and thus by extension have a sense of the
possible origin countries of refugees. From 20004 to 2013, asylum seekers' main country of
origin was Nigeria. The following top four countries varied between the countries of the
Democratic Republic of Congo, Pakistan, China, Albania, Somalia, Zimbabwe,
Bangladesh, Iraq, Romania, Iran, Sudan, Georgia, Afghanistan, Malawi, India, Moldova,
Ukraine, Croatia, and Czech Republic (ORAC, Monthly Statistics, December, 2001-2003;

4

Asylum applications began to increase in Ireland in the late 1990s. However, the statistics prior to 2000
concerning the breakdown of applicant's country of origin are not available. Therefore, these trends
concerning the country of origin may have started early than indicated here.

37

RIA, Annual Reports, 2007-201 5; RIA, Monthly Statistics, December, 2004-2006). In
20 14 and 2015, Pakistan was the main country of origin, with Nigeria remaining in the top
five countries.
It is also challenging to determine where convention refugees end up living in
Ireland after they are granted their status. However, the 2011 census does identify the
cities and counties with the highest diversity in their population 's country of origin. In
2011, Galway City had the highest percentage of diversity within its resident population.
With regards to absolute numbers, however, Dublin City had the highest number of nonIrish nationals (83 ,038 individuals), followed by Fingal (a small sub-county located near
Dublin City) (49,517 individuals), and County Cork (42,886) (Government of Ireland
20 12:1 0). T he identification of ' non-Irish nationals' includes anyone who has immigrated
to Ireland and does not refer specifically to convention refugees. However, this does
provide some indication for where higher rates of multi-ethnic diversity exist within
Ireland.
When I began my thesis, I did not intend to discuss asylum seekers. However, I
have found that it is impossible to discuss refugee integration without recognizing
refugees' previous experiences as asylum seekers and the time they spent in Direct
Provision Accommodation. Therefore, I will discuss Direct Provision Accommodation as
far as it pertains to refugees· lived experience of integration in Ireland.
NGOs represent another part of my research community. As I mentioned in the
introduction, I include NGOs as a way to better understand the relationship between
government integration policies and service implementation, as well as how NGOs act as
advocates for refugees and as 'safe places' of integration. NGOs represent a unique sector
38

in society as they are not governmental organizations, yet they are still informal governing
bodies. NGOs are often representatives for marginalized communities within the political
sphere, however it must be recognized that many NGOs receive funding from the
government and must follow governmental guidelines. Therefore, the role ofNGOs in
refugee integration and advocacy must be critically assessed. A greater discussion of
NGOs and their role in refugee integration is provided in chapter 5.
Another part of my research community includes government officials and
government departments. These government departments administer the structures and
policies set in place for refugee integration. I also include integration departments that
exist at the city level in this discussion. The government departments and officials that I
included in my research community are discussed in the following section on policy
analysis.
3.2 Policy Analysis
I used the method of policy analysis to review government policies that apply to
refugees and ethnic minority integration. Initially I proposed to review policies from the
government departments of the Office ofRefugee Applications Commissioner (ORAC);
the Department of Justice and Equality and its sub-department of Irish Naturalisation and
Immigration Services (INIS); and policies of the Office for the Promotion of Migration
Integration (OPMI). However, the policy review became more focused on the Department
of Justice and Equality and its sub-department the OPMI after I began to conduct the policy
research following the completion of my field work. In Ireland, asylum seekers and
refugees have different legal statuses and are therefore covered by different government
departments and legislation. ORAC and INIS, though closely related government

39

departments, do not deal with the legal category of refugees in their mandates. Instead,
ORAC and INIS focus on individuals who are in the process of applying for refugee status
(i.e. asylum seekers). Once individuals have been granted refugee status they fall under the
jurisdiction of the Department of Justice and Equal ity's sub-department the OPMI. As I
have explained, these individuals who have been granted refugee status make up the
research target group for my thesis; therefore, my policy analysis focused on the
departments that preside over them.
I reviewed and examined state integration policy statements including: Integration:
A Two Way Process (1999) and Migration Nation (2008). These two policies have been
the main sources of state integration policy in Ireland. I also reviewed government
websites, such as the OPMI and Citizens Information Bureau, for the history and
development of government integration policies and associated structures, as well as for
any information or explanations the government provided on integration.
My policy analysis also included the OPMI's current review of state integration
policy. The government review process, which is discussed in greater detail in chapter 4,
provided me with an opportunity to explore the government's views of integration and
what they believe to be important to Ireland's integration policy. The OPMI's integration
policy review also included a Call for Submissions to the public (OPMI, Review of
Integration Strategy, 20 15). The OPMI received submissions from various sectors of the
public, including: NGOs; sports groups; faith-based groups; and individuals. By
systematically analyzing the submissions from NGOs, I was able to include in my research
various NGOs' critiques of the current government integration policy in Ireland. This
includes reviews of both the positive and negative aspects of the policy.

40

I also reviewed and exam ined Dublin City Council's (DCC) Office oflntegration's
publication Towards Integration: A City Framework (2008). The DCC's publication is an
integration strategy for the city of Dublin, which is a level of government that featured
more prominently in my thesis than I expected . As both the capital city and an
Intercultural City, Dublin has been very proactive in its movements towards
multicultural ism/i nterculturalism and integration, and is involved in the state government's
current development of integration strategies.
3.3 Ethnographic research
Ethnographic research methods were critical for gatheting primary data.
Ethnography is defined by LeCompte and Schensul as a " [s]ystematic approach to learning
about the social and cultural life of communities, institutions, and other settings"
(LeCompte & Schensul 2010: 1). This systematic approach is scientific and investigative,
where the researcher is the primary tool of data collection who uses rigorous methods and
techniques in data collection to avoid bias, yet still recognizes the researcher's role in the
process (Ellen 1984:18; Grills 1998: 10; LeCompte & Schensul 2010: 1). Importantly for
LeCompte and Schensul's definition of ethnography,
Ethnographic research emphasizes and builds on the perspectives of the people in

the research setting [and] uses both inductive and deductive approaches, so as to
build more effective and socially and culturally valid local theories for testing and
adapting them for use both locally and elsewhere (LeCompte & Schensul2010:1).
The ethnographic approach is therefore very useful in my thesis as it focuses on the
community and the community's perspectives of its own culture, as well as recognizing m y
role as the researcher in the study process. I conducted ethnographic research by taking
into consideration history, culture, and factors that relate to m y research in how they affect
or are interpreted by the research community (Ellen 1984: 18; Grills 1998:3, 14; LeCompte
41

& Schensul 2010: 114). In my field research I used the two methods of ethnographic

research: participant observation and one-on-one semi-structured interviews.

3.3.1 Ethics
Prior to starting my fieldwork I identified potential ethical issues raised by my
ethnographic participant observation and semi-structured interviews. I applied for and
received approval from the University ofNorthern British Columbia's Research Ethics
Board (REB) for working with human participants. In regards to my participant
observation at an NGO, I recognized that I would be in a setting that worked with asylum
seekers and refugees, who are a marginalized and vulnerable community. This raises
ethical issues concerning the safety and confidentiality of the clients while job shadowing
at an NGO. In order to deal with this appropriately, I first sent the NGO an initial contact
email that had been approved by the REB. I then received consent from the NGO in the
form of an email prior to beginning my participant observation. During the fieldwork I job
shadowed with different workers and followed their examples in how to correctly interact
with the clients. In writing my thesis, I intentionally did not include any names or
identifiers of the clients in order to protect and respect their identity.
Concerning the semi-structured interviews, an ethical issue was the anonymity and
confidentiality of government and NGO workers. In order to gather the necessary data for
my research I used qualitative research techniques to record the personal views and
opinions of the research participants. This recognizes the individual voices of the different
stakeholders. However, this also raises ethical issues in respecting and protecting the
participants so that they do not experience any risks from taking part in an interview.

42

In order to appropriately deal with this ethical issue I sent the REB copies of my

initial contact email scripts, participant information letters, participant consent forms, and
interview questions to ensure that none of the materials would create risks for the interview
participants. 5 In the field I provided the interview participants with the information letter
about my research before meeting with them. At the beginning of the interview I discussed
the consent form with the participant, which details their rights and if they agree to have
the interview recorded. I highlighted the interview participant's right to remain anonymous
and to make any or all of their answers confidential. I then had them sign a copy of the
consent form, which I kept for my records, to indicate that they were giving informed
consent to participate in an interview. Following the fieldwork, I kept the recordings and
the transcripts in a secure place and did not use any names or confidential information in
the text of this thesis.
One risk I identified in my research for refugee interviewees was the potential of
psychologicaVemotional risk, due to their marginalized status and the reminder of possible
traumatic experiences they had while in their country of origin and travelling to Ireland. In
my application to the REB, I provided protocols for how I would respond should these
ethical issues arise, including highlighting that refugee interviewees could choose not to
answer any particular question. However, as I will discuss later, I did not end up
interviewing refugees during my fieldwork.

3.3.2 Participant Observation
Participant observation is an ethnographic field method that records situations as
they are happening and what these events mean to the study population (Ellen 1984:23;
5

See Appendix 3 of this thesis for copies of the research materials.

43

LeCompte & Schensul2010:174). Participant observation also includes in its focus any
daily social living that occurs that could pertain to the research study (Ellen 1984:23;
LeCompte & Schensul 20 I 0: 174). I conducted ethnographic participant observation during
my fieldwork in Dublin, Ireland from July 13th to August 9th, 2014. In my research,
participant observation was an ongoing process of recording primary data through note
taking and photography in the physical spaces created for refugees, such as the NGO
buildings and community centres. Participant observation further involved observing daily
life and social interactions in Dublin, experiencing and exploring the city into which
refugees were integrating.
One aspect of the participant observation that I conducted was going to public
spaces to observe which sectors of the community were represented and for whom these
public spaces were created. I visited three libraries: ILAC Library, Pearse Library, and the
Phibsboro Library, all of which are funded by the DCC and UNESCO. The libraries were
important for participant observation because they represent physical spaces of interaction
between migrants and local communities. Many migrants, including refugees, go to
libraries in Dublin to use computers and to access information on government and nongovernmental services (Interview 2 July 18, 2014:5). NGOs and other service-providers
use the libraries as places for initial contact with their clients by providing their information
and services on bulletin boards or in the form of pamphlets (Field notes August 6-8, 2014).
One of the essential parts of participant observation that I conducted while in
Dublin was to connect with an NGO that works with refugees. The purpose of connecting
with a NGO was to observe how the NGO functions as a mediator in refugee integration.
This included the NGO 's role as an advocate and service provider for refugees ' integration.

44

It also included the NGO ' s various connections to government through fund ing and acting
as a liaison between refugees and government service workers.
I initially intended to connect with two NGOs, the Integration Centre and the Africa
Centre. I also had lined up two alternative NGOs if it was not possible to connect with the
first two choices. The alternatives were the New Communities Partnership (NCP) and
AkiDiw A. I chose these NGOs because all of them are active in the community of Dublin
and work directly with refugees. However, once I began my initial research by contacting
these different NGOs and then later in my fieldwork when I was in Dublin, it became
apparent that it would not be possible to connect with multiple NGOs. I initially contacted
NGOs by email and explained who I was and what my research was about. I asked ifl
might be able to spend time at the NGO and job shadow with them for a period of two
weeks. I also asked if I would be able to interview key people at the centre who worked
with refugees and issues of integration once I was in Ireland.
In total, I emailed seven different NGOs. On average I sent each NGO three emails
that included an initial contact email and subsequent follow-up emails. These emails were
sent over a nine-week period, with the first emails being sent out on May 26lh, 2014 and the
last round of emails sent out on July 21 s', 2014. The responses I received to my emails
varied, however most the NGOs eventually responded either negatively or did not respond
at all to my emails (Field notes, May-June, 20 14). I received only one positive
confirmation for interviews and job shadowing.
I later discovered that my experience of receiving either negative or no responses
from NGOs was not uncommon for researchers to experience, especially researchers
working on their graduate degree (Interview l July 16 2014:7; Interview 3 July 29 2014:10;

45

Field notes, July 24, 2014). Many NGOs will not open emails from researchers they do not
recognize, or from researchers who do not already have connections with NGOs. Others,
as I experienced, will respond with a general email of recognition and promise to send the
email along to other staff members, however this does not usualJy develop any farther as it
is not a high priority for staff members (Field notes, July 24, 20 14). These responses and
lack of responses caused me to adapt my methods as my research developed. Instead of
connecting with two or more NGOs, I worked closely with one NGO as a case study:
SPIRASI.
The name SPIRASI stands for the Spiritan Asylum Services Initiative. SPIRASI
defines itself as
A humanitarian, intercultural, non-governmental organisation that works with
asylum seekers, refugees and other disadvantaged migrant groups, with special
concern for survivors of torture. In partnership with others, SPIRASI enables access
to specialist services to promote the well-being of the human person, and
encourages self-reliance and integration into Ireland (IRCT 20 15).
During my fieldwork in Dublin I went almost every work day to SPIRA Sl's office between
July 22, 2014 and August 5, 2014. I spent 2-5 hours a day job shadowing and experiencing
the work done at SPIRASI. This included speaking informally with many of the different
workers at SPIRASI, including teachers, therapists, and psychologists, and job shadowing
in reception at the front desk.
I also attended two educational classes. During the school year SPIRASI offers
various levels of English language classes, some of which are accredited by the
government's Quality and Qual ificati ons Board,6 as well as classes in computer skills and

6 The Quality and Qualification Ireland is the state agency appointed by the Minister for Education and Skills

that accredits and validates education and training programmes, among other qualifications programs. It
replaced Further Education and Training Awards Council (FETAC) (QQI 2014). Many local Irish still refer
to FETAC when discussing the Quality and Qualification Board.

46

word processing, numeracy and literacy, knitting and crochet, art, dance classes, and guitar
classes (SPIRASI, Education, 20 15). Because it was summer there were fewer students at
SPIRASI than what there would be during the school year, as well as fewer courses being
offered. However, I was still able to attend two conversational English language classes
(July 23, 2014 and July 30, 2014) where I experienced the classroom setting and the
interactions between students and the teacher.
These classes also allowed me to interact with refugees in informal settings and to
spend time talking with them. I also was able to talk and spend time with refugees at
SPIRASJ while job shadowing with the receptionist and eating lunch in the communal
coffee room. SPIRASI thus provided me with a great opportunity to interact with refugees
in an informal and every day setting. SPIRAS I also provided me with the opportunity to
observe ftrsthand how an NGO functions as an advocate and service provider for refugees
and bow it interacts with various government policies and structures.

3.3.3 Semi-structured one-on-one Interviews
One-on-one semi-structured interviews are another important ethnographic method
that I used for my research. Semi-structured interviews gather in-depth information from
the research population and allow for recognition of different individuals' agency and
voice. I sought to conduct interviews with representatives from the government, NGOs,
and refugees in order to gather detailed information from the individuals who are
representative of each of my three research questions.

In order to gather information to answer my first research question (What are the
state policies and structures that might influence refugee integration?) I proposed to
interview officials involved in policy making, including the Integration Officer at the DCC

47

and an official from the Office for the Promotion of Migrant Integration (OPMI). These
interviews were meant to explore what officials understood the purpose of integration and
multicultural policies to be and what ethics or reasoning was involved in their
development. These interviews were also meant to hear the voice of individuals working
in the government. I was able to contact (via email) both the DCC' s Integration Officer
and a representative from the OPMI. I conducted two interviews with DCC' s Integration
Officer, who provided me with very valuable information on government and integration
policies, as well as suggestions of places to visit while in Dublin that are representative of
integration and interculturalism. These interviews provided rich information about the
city-level government and the diversity that exists within the Irish government. This
included the different goals of the city and the state and how the state influenced the city's
policies and governance.
Unfortunately, I was not as successful with the representative from the OPMI. In
response to my initial request, I was told that an interview would not be possible while I
was in Dublin because the OPMI was in the process of reviewing the current state of
integration policies. The policy review, including writing the new state integration policy,
is expected to take several years to complete and, as my research began a few months after
the policy review was initiated, I was told that future telephone interviews were also
impossible because of the OPMI's time constraints with the project. However, I exchanged
several emails with the OPMT's representative, who sent me information concerning the
policy review and links to their website where I could find more information pertaining to
my research interests.

48

As part of my semi-structured interviews, I also conducted interviews with workers
at SPIRASJ. I chose to interview NGO representatives in order to explore how, or if, NGO
activities are impacting refugee integration and policy interaction, and how NGOs act as
advocates for refugees. This information is beneficial for answering my second research
question. As previously discussed, NGOs exist in a middle ground between the
government and refugees, and have direct relationships with both the government and
refugees. Therefore, interviews with NGO representatives provided me with valuable
information that relates to all three of my research questions. This information is beneficial
for comparing state integration policies and the lived experience, and draws on integration
theory and the themes of multiculturalism and interculturalism.

In the semi-structured interviews, I asked NGO advocates questions about how they
mediate between state policy and refugee integration. This included questions on how
NGOs view the effects of state policies and structures on the organization of the NGO and
bow they understand the role or need for NGO advocacy groups in Ireland. Further,
questions included what the NGO thinks are the goals for integration policy and what are
their understanding of the terms 'multicultural' and 'intercultural.' Importantly, the
interview questions discussed how the NGO understands their relationship with refugees
and refugees' experience of integration in Ireland.
As I was not able to connect with more than one NGO, my interviews were
conducted with individuals who work at or are connected to SPIRASI. However, I contend
that the two interviews I conducted at SPIRASI provide enough data for my research when
they are combined with the data gathered through my participant observation and the
information provided in the submissions from other NGOs sent to the OPMI. These

49

different data sources create a more holistic understanding when they are analyzed in
relation to one another.
The first individual I interviewed at SPIRASI was the Integration Coordinator.
This was an in-depth interview that was arranged before I arrived in Dublin and developed
out of my initial email contact. The job of the Integration Coordinator is a full-time
position. This person is the head of the education and integration programs at SPIRASI.
The current Integration Coordinator first began working at SPIRASI in 2001 as a volunteer.
Since 2003 the Integration Coordinator has worked in different capacities as an employee
at SPIRASI, before settling in his current position. This interview was key to gaining data
concerning refugees' integration and the NGO 's role in that integration, as the Integration
Coordinator has worked in this sector for a number of years. He was therefore able to give
me a broad understanding of how integration in Ireland has developed in relation to NGOs
since the time he started working to the current day. The Integration Coordinator was also
able to speak to how the NGO has adapted to meet these changes towards integration, and
how it developed to address gaps in services that were discovered over time (Interview 1
July 16 2014:2). The Integration Coordinator also introduced me to other individuals who
work at SPIRASI, including teachers, psychologists, and therapists, and I was able to have
many informal talks with these other workers about their experiences at the NGO.
My second interview at SPIRASI was with an Irish-Canadian student who has been
a volunteer at SPIRASI over the last three years. This interview provided useful
information as the individual grew up in Dublin and attended one of the local grade
schools. He is now currently attending Trinity College, focusing on the continent of
Africa, refugees, and international affairs (Interview 3 August 5, 2014: 1,5). This

50

interviewee spoke to general understandings of refugees and integration in Ireland as well
as his own experience of connecting with SPIRASI. I was able to cross-reference the
contextual information from this interview with other primary and secondary sources
(Interview 3 August 5, 2014:4). He is also personally invested in this field of research
through his studies and interests, and spoke about his experiences at SPIRASI. This
provided me with another point of view on the NGO from someone who is a volunteer and
not a paid worker, and who is also knowledgeable and connected to a similar field of study.

3.3.4 Limitations and Alternative Sources
Initially, I also planned on conducting interviews with refugees to learn about their
experiences of integration in Ireland and to recognize refugees ' agency and voice in the
process of integration. I had hoped that by working with a NGO, I would be able to make
personal contact with refugees, which would then lead to one-on-one interviews. However,
there are limitations and increased ethical issues when working with more marginalized
communities, such as refugees, that are not always able to be addressed in limited research
timeframes. This was the situation I experienced in Ireland and I was not able to conduct
interviews with refugees.
Although I did not conduct in-depth interviews with refugees directly, I contend
that I am still able to addt·ess integration at the personal level by drawing: on my participant
observation conducted at SP IRASI, including my experiences in the English Language
classes; on the interviews I conducted with NGO workers; and on the two independent
research papers that included excerpts from interviews with refugees in Ireland conducted
within the past three years. One of the independent studies was conducted by the UNHCR
in December 2013 (UNHCR 2013). The other study was conducted at SPIRASI by a third51

party independent researcher to explore the needs of refugees and asylum seekers in Ireland
who have been tortured (Walsh 2014). Though this is not as ideal as talking to refugees
directly, taken together this research data still allows for a review of refugees' personal
experience of integration in Ireland.
Another alternative data source that was unexpected, but extremely valuable was
the opportunity to attend the meeting between SPIRASI and the Cross-Departmental
Board. The Cross-Departmental Board is the government body which reviews the
submissions sent to the OPMI as part of the integration policy review. During this meeting
SPIRASI's Director and Integration Officer discussed in greater detail the integration
policy submission that SPIRASI submitted to the OPMI. This experience was very
constructive, as I was able to observe firsthand the interactions between the government
and SPIRASI as they discussed the effects integration policy has on the daily lives and
experiences of refugees. My observations included both physical and spatial interactions,
as well as the flow of discussion and how the groups interacted with each other in a forma l
setting.
This meeting was also advantageous for me as I was able to observe the process
that the state government is using for including stakeholders in the integration policy
review. Therefore, even though I was not able to directly interview a representative from
the OPMI, I was still able to collect infonnation about how new policies and structures of
integration are currently being created and what NGO criticisms of the government and/or
information was discussed in the meeting. This meeting thus provided beneficial
information for both my policy analysis and my examination ofNGOs' mediator
relationship between the government and refugees.

52

3.4 Following Fieldwork Completion
After my fieldwork was completed, I analyzed the primary data by comparing data
sets to one another in order to check the validity or variation that existed. Another
important analysis method I used was compiling the data into larger conceptual categories
based on my theoretical and methodological approaches. This included highlighting
important themes that were present in the different data sets, such as: education; definitions
and/or indicators of integration; connections between different groups; and the impacts of
Direct Provision Accommodation. By analyzing the data in this way I was able to conduct
a systematic analysis that compared and contrasted different data sets, which allowed me to
look for linkages between them. This helped me identify absences or gaps in the data and
any similarities and differences that existed (LeCompte & Schensul 2010: 199).
During my analysis, the concept of multiculturalism was an important analytical
tool for exploring integration as it provided the theoretical framework for defining
integration as a two way process. Multiculturalism became especially important for
analysis as this definition of integration is used by many different community sectors in
Ireland, including both the government and NGOs. By analyzing these definitions through
the lens of multicultural theory, I was able to explore what these definitions of integration
represented to each sector and how they compared to one another. Integration at the
personal level was explored through both the observable forms of integration during
participant observation, and the individual experience and emotional sense of integration
mentioned in one-on-one interviews and in the independent research papers.
Multiculturalism thus provided a strong analytical tool and framework for analyzing and
comparing the research data.

53

3.5 Conclusion
The methods discussed in this chapter provided me with the tools to gather the data
necessary to answer my research questions. Drawing on the theoretical approaches
discussed in chapter 2, I used methods that provided a holistic understanding of refugee
integration that reflects the research community and its experiences. By using an
interdisciplinary approach, I was also able to adequately address my research questions by
drawing on various data sets to gain a greater understanding of refugee integration in
Ireland.

In the next two chapters I will present my analysis of the research data. Chapter 4
examines integration at the state and local government levels. It includes discussions of the
history and development, as well as the current forms of government structures and policies
of integration. Chapter 5 focuses on the lived experience of integration. This includes
exploring the role ofNGOs in refugee integration, as well as how refugees experience
integration themselves. I use a case study to illustrate the mediating role played by NGOs,
and end the chapter with a focused examination on how refugees understand and explain
their own integration.

54

Chapter 4: Integration Policy in Ireland
The flrst three chapters in this thesis provided an introduction to the study topic,
along with the theoretical approaches and methods used in the research. The following two
chapters will now present the analysis of the research data. In this chapter I discuss
government policies and structures that are related to refugee integration. This applies to
the first research question and is the top-down analysis of my research approach. In this
chapter, I argue that due to the ad hoc nature of their development and a lack of
implementation, Ireland's integration policies and structures have not yet reached a point
where one could determine with a high level of confidence whether or not they have
positively influenced refugee integration, as multicultural policies seem to have done in
other countries. However, as I will discuss in this chapter, it seems likely that Ireland's
policies and structures create deterrents to refugee integration due to lack of development
and implementation, given what the secondary literature presented in chapter 2 identifies as
important for a successful integration policy.

In order to support my argument, I first provide a summary of the Irish government
structure, including both state and local government levels. This summary provides the
context of integration policies and the governing bodies that create, implement and review
them. This is followed by a discussion of the development and evolution of integration
policies and structures. In discussing policy, I outline different levels of policy that relate
to integration in Ireland. I begin at the EU level and review the impact EU integration
policy has had on Irish policy. I then discuss state government policy and the history and
evolution of integration policies and structures. This includes reviewing the creation of the
current integration governing body, the OPMI, and the integration policy review that the

55

OPMI is now conducting for the Irish government. I also discuss local government
integration policies in Dublin as these focus specifically on my geographical research
context. In the last section of the chapter, 1 present a focused analysis of Ireland ' s
integration policies and structures.

4.1 Structure

In order to explore and examine Irish government integration policies, it is
necessary first to have an understanding of the Republic of Ireland's government
organization. Providing the government context in which the policies exist is important for
determining how state integration policies and structures might influence refugee
integration. Understanding the government context will allow me to review the structure of
power that governs the creation, implementation, revision, and practice of integration
policies in Ireland.
Unlike the Canadian government structure of federal, provincial, and municipal
governments, the Republic of Ireland ' s government is split between the state and local
authorities. Local authorities are under the power of the state and must uphold state law.
Local authorities have jurisdiction over smaller localities, which may have different laws
and regulations that differ between local authorities, however no local authority can
contradict state-level legislation or policy (Citizens Information, Local Government, 2014).
At the national or state level, the government is governed by the Irish Constitution,
which establishes how Ireland should be governed and details the fundamental rights of
every Irish citizen (Citizens Information 2013). The Irish government is headed by the
Taoiseach (the Prime Minister), and the Tanaiste (the Deputy Prime Minister). There are
currently 16 Ministers who form the government under the Taoiseach and hold the

56

executive power. The government's main roles are to propose legislation, manage the
public finances, and administer government departments (Citizens Information 2013).
Each government department is headed by a Minister who is chosen by the Taoiseach.
Each department is responsible for a different aspect of governance in Ireland. For
example, the Department of Health is responsible for development of health policy and the
planning of health services, and the Department of Education and Skills is responsible for
providing public education at primary and post-primary levels as well as managing state
subsidies for universities and third-level colleges (Citizens Information, Departments of
State, 20 15). Of particular interest for my research is the Department of Justice and
Equality which is responsible for immigration as well as protecting the security of the state,
crime, and protection of individuals' rights and freedoms (Department of Justice and
Equality, Our Responsibilities, 20 15).
The government is chosen by and responsible to the Dail Eireann (House of
Representatives) which is one of the two Houses ofParliament, (the Oireachtas) (Citizens
Information 2013). The Taoiseach and the Tanaiste, along with the Minister for Finance
and a minimum of 7 to a maximum of 15 Ministers are included in the Dail. In total, the
Dail has 166 members who are elected through proportional representation, with elections
taking place at least every five years. At present the four main parties in the Republic of
Ireland are Fine Gael, Labour, Fianna Fail and Sinn Fein (Archive eu2013).
The other House of Parliament is the Seanad Eireann (Senate). The Seanad can
initiate or revise legislation but is limited by the Dail wh ich can reject the Seanad's
amendments and proposed legislation. The Seanad has 60 members. The Taoiseach
nominates 11, while the rest of the Seanad members are elected from vocational panels and

57

by national universities (Archive eu2013). Ministers have a right to attend Seanad, though
they are not responsible to the Seanad. As a common practice the Minister whose area of
responsibility is being discussed is usually present (Archive eu20 13).
Local authorities are important to understand as they represent the local government
context into which refugees are integrating. As stated earlier, local authorities may have
different laws and regulations from each other. Therefore, it is necessary to review the
organization and structure of local authorities in order to understand what different levels
of local government refugees may be governed by depending on their location in Ireland.
Local authorities include both county councils and city councils (Citizens
Information, Political System at the Local Level 20 14). The organization of local
authorities is controlled by the Department o f the Environment, Community, and Local
Government (Citizens Information, Local Government, 2014). Preceding the local
elections, the Department of the Environment, Community, and Local Government
publishes a document concerning the breakdown of local authorities. The most recent
publication is the Local Electoral Area Boundary Committee Report 2013, which details
the current boundaries of local governments, as well as recommends the number of
members each local government council should contain. The number of council members
is fixed by law based on the population of the local authority area, according to the Local
Government Act 2001 and amended by the Local Government Reform Act 2014.
Councillors are elected in local elections and hold the position for 5 years (Citizens
Information, Membership of Local Authorities, August 2014). The voting system for local
authorities in Ireland is unique in that anyone who has resided in a local authority area for 6
months is eligible to vote in the local elections (Interview 2, July 18, 20 14:7). This means

58

that refugees and other migrants who are living in Ireland are able to register to vote for
local elections but not national elections, which can change the power dynamic in local
elections compared to state elections. Ireland and Malta are the only two European
countries that have this system (interview 2, July 18, 2014:7).
As of the 2014 local elections, there are currently 31 local authorities with 949
councillors (Citizens Information, Local Authorities, August 2014). Twenty-six of these
local authorities are county councils that represent the local government in 24 geographical
counties. Some counties, such as Dublin County, have multiple county councils. Two of
Ireland ' s 31 local authorities are both a county council and city council. These are the
local authorities of Limerick and Waterford. The remaining 3 local authorities are the city
councils of Dublin, Cork, and Galway because they are large city centres with large
populations. Dublin County is therefore spilt into the four local authorities of South Dublin
County Council, Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council, Fingal County Council, and
Dublin City Council (Citizens Information, Local Authorities, August 2014). Under the
new Local Government Reform Act 2014 each council area, not including Dublin ' s 3
county councils and the 3 city councils, now include at least 2 municipal districts that
integrate town and county governance. Municipal districts consist of towns and their
'hinterlands' based on size and population (Department of the Environment, Community
and Local Government 2012:vii; Department of the Environment, Community and Local
Government, Local Government Reform, 2014). This is to assist in proper representation
from all sectors of the local government and enables local authority members on county
councils to make decisions that relate to the particular district from which they were elected
(Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government 2012: vi-vii). These

59

municipal districts replaced previous town authorities and corporations (Citizens
Information, Local Authorities, August 2014; Department of the Environment, Community
and Local Government, Local Government Reform, 2014).

It is important to understand the diversity in the types of local authorities, as local
authorities are responsible for many different public services that impact the individuals
living in each community. According the Citizens Information website: "Local authorities
promote the interests of your local community, including the social, economic,
environmental, recreational, cultural, community or general development of your area"
(Citizens Information, Functions of Local Authorities, 20 15). Local authorities'
responsibilities are broken down into 7 categories: housing; planning; roads; water supply
and sewerage; development incentives and controls; environmental protection including
rivers, lakes, air and noise; and recreation facilities and amenities (Citizens Information,
Functions of Local Authorities, 2015). Thus, in order to explore the integration of refugees
in Ireland, it is first necessary to understand where in Ireland they are living, and how their
local authority interacts with the state-level departments. Local authorities are also
important because of the fact that refugees and other migrants are able to vote and be
politically involved at this level of government in Ireland, even if they are not able to
participate at the state-level. In my research, I use Dublin city as my geographic boundary
thus the governments with which I am concerned are the state government and the local
authority of Dublin City Council.
4.2 Policy

The government structure discussed above is the context in which integration policy
in Ireland is created. The evolution of government departments has impacted the

60

development of integration policy and how the policies have been implemented. In this
section, I review the evolution of integration policy and the related government structures.
The history of Irish integration policy is important as many of the current policies are built
upon and/or refer to preceding government policies.
Before reviewing integration policy, it is important to note that Ireland does not
have any legislation specifically concerning integration in Ireland (OPMI, Role of the
Office 2011; European Commission 2014). However, there is legislation that "sets the
broad legal parameters within which government policy around immigration and
integration takes place" (European Commission 2014). 7 The difference between legislation
and policy, put simply, is that legislation or a law is written into the statutes of a country
that must be obeyed. This means that an action is either legal or illegal. Policy, on the
other hand, is more of a recommendation or guide of how people should or should not be
acting and how to guide change towards a stated goal (Interview 3 July 29, 2014:5).
However, policy is based within the laws and legislation of the country and therefore must
comply with them.
4.2.1 EU Policy
Throughout its development Ireland 's integration and immigration policy has been
heavily influenced by the EU (Gray 2008b:123; Smith et al. 2014:1). EU policies on
integration have focused primarily on creating a sense of unity between member states
concerning their approaches towards immigrants and asylum seekers (Boucher 2008:8;
Fanning 2011:28; Gray 2006b:l23; Smith et al. 2014:6). One important policy
7

This legislation includes: Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act, 2004; Immigration Act, 2004; Refugee Act
(As Amended), 1996; Employment Permits Act, 2006; Employment Equality Act, 1998; Equal Status Act,
2000 and Equality Act, 2004; The Prohibition oflncitement to Hatred Act, 1989; Criminal Law (Human
Trafficking) Act, 2008 (European Commission 2014).

61

development at the EU level was the agreement by the then 25 member states on the 11
Common Basic Principles for EU immigrant integration policy. These principles provide
guidance for the goals, priorities, and measurements of progress of integration in the
different member states (Gray 2006b: 123). These principles are not legally binding for the
member states, however, and it is at the discretion of each member state whether or not to
implement these integration principles (Boucher 2008:8). The EU does, however, control
aspects of immigration policy that regulate the "rights and restrictions of movement into
and with in much of Europe" (Smith et al. 2014: 14). For example, the EU provides
conditions of entry and residence for third-country nationals entering and residing legally
in member states for family reunification, although member states still control admissions
rates for third-country nationals entering for work (Chateau 2015:1). The EU also
legislates how immigrants and asylum seekers are to be treated once within the EU (Smith
et al. 2014: 15). However, once individuals receive refugee status their integration is under
the jurisdiction of the member state in which they reside.
Many people have criticized the EU policies and programmes concerning
immigration, asylum, and integration in the movement towards conformity across member
states. This harmonization approach is said to have its roots in xenophobia and fears for
security of the greater context of Europe (Boucher 2008:9; Fanning 2011 :28; Smith et al.
2014: I). Fanning argues that EU integration policies were believed to "depoliticize
integration by side-stepping thorny local histories of essential ist national identity" (Fanning
2011:28). This began in the 1990s as individual member states simultaneously introduced
harsh policies towards refugees, which Fanning argues contributed to the creation of a
' Fortress Europe' (Fanning 2011 :28). At the same time, immigration patterns changed as

62

they became more focused on labour immigration as an answer to declining European
demographics. Integration thus shifted from focusing on national identities to instead
selecting immigrants who could 'fit' in the EU neoliberal economy. This took the form of
what Fanning titles the "capabilities approach," meaning that the focus was on the abil ity to
speak the local language, and have access to education, health, housing, and societal
participation (Fanning 2011 :29). While these are indeed important factors and indicators
of integration, the separation of national identity from integration creates a barrier to the
cultural and personal integration of migrants or diverse groups and maintains the
distinction of ' Us' and 'Them ' . Some of these same themes are evident in Irish integration
policies and integration structures.
4.2.2 State Policy
Irish state policies and structures of integration first started as reactive
developments in response to the large increase in immigration in the late 1990's and early
2000' s (Boucher 2008:6). As Ireland 's immigrant population began to increase
dramatically during the economic boom at the tum of the 2P1 century, the need for more
integration and immigration services increased as well. One of the first developments in
Ireland was the Irish Refugee Act ( 1996) which relied heavily on the 1951 Geneva

Convention. The Geneva Convention was the frrst international agreement that defmed
who is considered to be a refugee as well as the receiving countries' responsibilities
towards refugees. The Geneva Convention can be seen as the foundation of Ireland ' s
policies of integration and the asylum system (Smith et al. 2014:5; UNHCR 2010:14).
Ireland 's first pol icy document that discussed refugee integration was Integration:
A Two Way Process (1999). This policy document was developed by an Interdepartmental

63

Working Group which was created by the government in order to assess the integration of
refugees who had just gained status (Gray 2006b: 129-130; UNHCR 2009:76; UNHCR
2013: 19). This report defmed integration as it is currently understood by the Irish
government and provided a summary of supports available for refugees in Ireland.
Integration: A Two Way Process (1999:9) defined integration as: " the ability to participate
to the extent that a person needs and wishes in all of the major components of society,
without having to relinquish his or her own cu ltural identity." The main conclusion of the
report is that integration is a two way process and that in order for integration to be
successful both refugees and the receiving community have to participate in the integration
process (Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform 1999:9; Gray 2006b: 130;
UNHCR 2009:76; UNHCR 2013: 19). Integration: A Two Way Process (1999) concludes
with recommendations for the future, beginning with identifying a need for an
organizational structure for co-ordinating and implementing integration policy (Department
of Justice, Equality and Law Reform 1999:54). The purpose of this recommendation was
to ensure that a comprehensive strategy would exist for integration in Ireland and that
appropriate structures would be in place to implement integration policy (UNHCR
2013:19). The report also recommended raising public awareness by providing information
on anti-racism and cultural diversity and making mainstream services, such as language
and skills training and social welfare supports, more accessible to refugees (Department of
Justice, Equality and Law Reform 1999:55, 56; UNHCR2013:19). The report ended with
an important emphasis on the need for future research (though it does not specify by
whom) to supplement the small amount of infom1ation on refugees in Ireland, including

64

how both the state and NGOs together facilitate integration (Department of Justice,
Equality and Law Reform 1999:58-59; UNHCR2013:19).
Integration: A Two Way Process ( 1999) proposed valuable recommendations and
provided insight into the integration of refugees in Ireland, yet many academics and
researchers have found it problematic (Boucher 2008; Gray 2006b; UNHCR 2009). One
main critique is that the report failed to specify what are the expectations of refugees for
being active participants in their own integration, beyond the fact that it is expected of them
(Boucher 2008: 17; UNHCR 2009:76). Expanding on this, the report is critiqued as
functioning on the neoliberal assumption that it is up to the individual refugee to integrate,
while the receiving state' s role is simply to "facilitate equality of access and ... to address
forms of racism through equality and anti-discrimination measures (Boucher 2008: 16).
Gray (2006b: 130) summarizes this by stating:
In other words, integration policies must foster self-sufficient and autonomous
immigrants, who must work on themselves in order to be independent, and
committed to contributing to the Irish economy and society, in order that they may
be integrated. The report is concerned here with what constitutes the most proper
and efficient modes of conduct in promoting effective integration.

Gray's critique of this neoliberal approach is that it assumes that any special needs or
requirements refugees may have will "disappear once they gain equal access to mainstream
services" (Gray 2006b: 130). This relates to Kymlicka and Parekh 's statements presented
in chapter 2 that fair and supportive multicultural policies may require ongoing special or
additional accommodations in order to ensure equal access (Kymlicka 1998:52; Parekh
2006:262).
Boucher built upon Gray' s analysis and critiqued Integration: A Two Way Process
( 1999) as being a reactive response to the problem of integrating refugees who had already

65

spent multiple years in Ireland as asylum seekers (Boucher 2008: 16). Boucher argued that
this approach was not effective because the implementation of the policies were not well
resourced and that the report is:
less about the multicultural right to cultural diversity than about legitimising a
laissez-faire integration strategy in which individual immigrants are meant to apply
neo-liberal modes of governance to themselves by taking responsibility for their
own economic, social, cultural and political integration (Boucher 2006: 16).
Boucher suggests that this approach pressures migrants to 'choose to integrate ' by
assimilating to Irish culture rather than maintaining their own cultural identity in order to
succeed in their new home country (Boucher 2008:19). Although it is important to
recognize the influence of the government's neoliberal approach on refugee integration, as
is discussed in chapter 5, I would argue that Gray (2006b) and Boucher's (2006) critiques
of Integration: A Two Way Process (1999) slightly miss the mark. The policy's integration
statements are not inherently assirnilationist or problematic for understanding integration as
a two way process. Instead, I would argue that Integration: A Two Way Process (1999) is a
weak integration policy as it lacks clear integration objectives and steps for implementation
and, as stated by Boucher (2006: 16), was not well resourced or developed. As is discussed
later in the policy analysis, this would likely have a negative influence on refugee
integration. Integration: A Two Way Process ( 1999) was significant, however, as it defmed
how the Irish government would understand integration as a two way process and initiated
the development of integration structures in Ireland.
Following the Irish Refugee Act (1996) and beginning around the same time
Integration: A Two Way Process was published (1999), a number of different government
services were also developed as initial steps for dealing with increased immigration. This
began with the creation of the National Consultative Committee on Racism and
66

Interculturalism (NCCRI) in 1998 (UNHCR 2009:75), followed by the creation of the
O ffice of Refugee Applications Commissioner (ORAC) and the Refugee Appeal Tribunal
(RAT) in 2000 (Smith et al. 2014:10). The Reception and Integration Agency (RIA) was
created in 200 1 and the Irish Naturalisation and Integration Services (INIS) in 2005 (INIS,
Homepage, 2014; RIA, Background, 20 10). The functions of these services varied: the
NCCRI functioned as an advocate agency, while ORAC, RAT, and RIA functioned as a
system of management and control over who was granted refugee status and bad the right
to remain in Ireland. NCCRI was closed in 2008 due to budget cuts (Cullen 2009: 119;
UNHCR 2009:75), however the other services listed here continue to function as part of the
asylum process for individuals wishing to gain refugee status in Ireland.
The second state policy that addressed issues of integration was the National Action
Plan Against Racism (2005), also known as NPAR. T his policy was created by the then

Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, and the then Min ister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform,
Michael McDowell, as part of the commitments made by the Irish government along with
the other governments present at the United N ational World Conference against Racism in
2001 (OPMI, The National Action Plan Against Racism (NP AR) 2005 - 2008, 201 1;
UNHCR 2009:76). NPAR focused on integration by supporting anti-discrimination
measures against minority groups, including Travellers 8 and new immigrant communities
(UNHCR 2009:76). Part of the imp lementation ofNPAR was the creation of a Strategic

8 Irish Travellers are tbe largest minority group in Ireland. Travellers, also known historically as 'tinkers',

' gypsies' or 'traders' by the dominant Irish settled community, are an indigenous nomadjc ethnic group in
Ireland. Travellers' economy is based on commercial nomadism, meaning that they interact with the
sedentary population and historically provided seasonal labour or odd jobs. Since the Second World War,
many Traveller communities have become more sedentary as their ability to live their nomadic lifestyle has
become restricted due to increased urbanization. Travellers did not receive protection from discrimination in
law until l990 and they continue to face discrimination, racialization and ' Othering' today (Lentin &
McVeigh 2006:129-131).

67

Monitoring Group that processed inquiries, reports, and responses to issues related to
racism, discrimination, and xenophobia (OPMI, The National Action Plan Against Racism
(NPAR) 2005 - 2008, 2011; HETI 2014: l ). This Strategic Monitoring Group included
representatives from government bodies, social partners (Irish Business and Employers
Confederation (IBEC), Congress, voluntary and community sectors), minority
communities, as well as NCCRI (OPMI, The National Action Plan Against Racism
(NP AR) 2005 - 2008, 2011). This policy was limited in its time frame and ended in 2008.

When NP AR ended, a void was created as no other policy or reviewing committee replaced
it (DICE 2014:2; HETI 2014: 1).
In 2007, the responsibility for integration was removed from RIA, part of the
Department of Justice, Equality, and Law Reform (now the Department of Justice and
Equality), and handed over to the newly established Office of the Minister for Integration
(UNHCR 2009:75). In this same year the National Development Plan (2007-2013) (2007)
was published. This document was directed at the wider society and included
commitments to English language support for children from non-English language
backgrounds and to the development of a national integration policy (UNHCR 2013:2829). The result of this plan was that the Office of the Minister for Integration published its
first report, called Migration Nation: Statement on the Integration Strategy and Diversity

Management (2008) (UNHCR 2009:76). Migration Nation (2008) was the first
Ministerial statement specifically on integration in Ireland (UNHCR 2013:20).
Alongside the publication of Migration Nation (2008) by the Irish government
various other government policies and documents have been published that discuss
integration. However, these documents focus on integration within the specific areas of the

68

different government departments and do not address integration in Ireland as a whole
(OPMI, The National Action Plan Against Racism (NPAR) 2005-2008, 2011). Examples
include policies such as the National Intercultural Health Strategy (2007-2012);

Intercultural Education Strategy (2010-2015); and the Garda's9 publication Your Police
Service in Intercultural Ireland (2002). Unfortunately, many of the policies and strategies
have finished with little discussion of revision (Field notes, July 28, 20 14). Therefore,

Migration Nation (2008) remains the Irish State Government's only overarching
integration policy.
As has been discussed, Migration Nation (2008) developed ideas created in
previous government integration policies and reinforced the idea of integration as a two
way process presented in Integration: A Two Way Process ( 1999). However, Migration

Nation (2008) expanded this understanding of two way integration to include not only the
immigrant and the receiving community, but also the corporate sector, trade unions, media,
and voluntary organizations (Office of the Minister for Integration 2008:9; UNHCR
2009:76). In Migration Nation (2008), integration was strongly linked to citizenship as the
stated purpose or goal of integration is to have immigrants who are able and willing to
become functional, self-sufficient Irish citizens (Office of the Minister for Integration
2008:9; UNHCR 2013:20). As explained by the then Minister for Integration, Conor
Lenihan, in his Integration Statement: "Integration policy in Ireland will be a two-way [sic]
street involving rights and duties for those migrants who reside, work and in particular
those who aspire to be Irish citizens" (Office of the Minister for Integration 2008:1 0). In
this same integration statement in Migration Nation (2008), Lenihan asserted that the

9 The An Garda Siochana, commonly called the Gardai or Garda, is the national police force oflreland (An

Garda Siochana 2015).

69

proposed key actions included creating "a formal pathway to Permanent Residency and
Citizenship for those who qualify" and "Citizenship and long-term residency to be
contingent on proficiency of skills in the spoken language of the country" (Office of the
Minister for Integration 2008:9). Migration Nation (2008) also differed from previous
integration policies in that it did not discuss in detail specific minority or marginalized
groups, such as refugees, but instead used the term 'migrants' as a general category for its
target group without recognizing the diversity that exists within the term. It further despecialized the integration approach by creating mainstream policies and services (Field
notes, June 18, 2014; UNHCR 2009:77; UNHCR 2013:20). ' Mainstreaming services'
refers to the practice of incorporating services for refugees and migrants into existing
structures created for the local population instead of creating new 'targeted services. ' The
intent is to keep services from becoming ' ghettoized ' or stigmatized (European
Commission 2014; OPMI, Policy Statement: Migration Nation, 201 1).
In Migra tion Nation (2008) the government committed to a series of integration
principles. These included:
•

•
•

•

A partnership approach between the Government and non-governmental
organisations, as well as civil society bodies, to deepen and enhance the
opportunities for integration
A strong link between integration policy and wider state social inclusion
measures, strategies and initiatives
A clear public policy focus that avoids the creation of parallel societies,
communities and urban ghettoes, i.e. a mainstream approach to service
delivery to migrants
A commitment to effective local delivery mechanisms that align services to
migrants with those for indigenous communities (Office of the Minister for
Integration 2008:9,72; also cited in UNHCR 2013:20).

In addition, Migration Nation (2008) focused on conununity areas of integration, including
local authorities; political parties; sporting bodies; and faith-based groups. In the report,

70

the Irish government expresses its plan to provide specific funding to these areas from
government and philanthropic sectors, as these areas deal with the daily needs of migrants
(Office of the Minister for Integration 2008:9). Further, Migration Nation (2008) listed
and discussed 12 important issues for integration: 1) provision of information; 2) provision
of services- one stop shop; 3) citizenship; 4) measures to protect migrants from
exploitation and discrimination; 5) interpretation and translation services; 6) targeted
recruitment to the public service in order to reflect the diversity of the population; 7) nongovernmental organizations; 8) measurement of public opinion; 9) health services; 10)
education aspects of integration; 11) language teaching; and 12) research and evaluation
(Office of the Minister for Integration 2008:51-61). All of these proposed principles and
areas of interest presented in Migration Nation (2008) are important because, as will be
discussed below in the policy analysis, it is in these same areas that government integration
policy has received most of its criticisms.
4.2.2.1 Creation of the OPMI
Since the publication of Migration Nation (2008), there has been a number of
different restructurings of government departments. In 201 0, the Office for the Minister of
Integration transitioned into the Office for the Promotion of Migrant Integration (OPMI),
still under the jurisdiction of the Department of Justice and Equality (OPM1, 2010
Highlights, 201 1). According to the office's website, the OPMI "has a cross-Deprutmental
mandate to develop, lead and co-ordinate migrant integration policy across other
government departments, agencies and services" (OPMI, Role of the Office, 2011). The
office functions to promote integration for legal immigrants and refugees into Irish society
and to create new integration structures (European Commission 2014; OPMI, Role of the

71

Office, 2011 ). The specification of legal immigrants is important when considering the
separation between the legal categories of refugees and asylum seekers in Ireland.
Refugees are recognized as legally residing in Ireland, whereas asylum seekers have an
undetermined status and thus the OPMI does not cover any legislation or strategies
concerned with asylum seekers. The OPMI also functions at the international level and
coordinates Ireland' s international reporting requirements on racism and integration, as
well as manages the resettlement of program refugees admitted as part of the United
Nations Resettlement Programme (OPMI, Role of the Office, 201 1).
Another important function of the OPMI is the administration of funding, both from
the Irish government and from EU sources (OPMI, Role of the Office, 2011). In 2014, the
OPMI's budget allocation was € 1.346 mi ll ion. The OPMI uses this budget, along with
administering the additional €1.5 million provided in 2015 by the European Refugee Fund
and the European Fund for the Integration of Third-Country Nationals, for providing seed
funding in key areas of integration to other organizations, such as sports or faith-based
organizations, NGOs, and local governments (OPMI, Budget for 2015, 2011). However,
according to the OPMI website, the primary core funding for integration is spent by other
government departments who provide mainstream integration services, as was proposed in
Migration Nation (2008) (OPMI, Overview of Funding for Migrant Integration in Ireland,
2011).
The OPMI has yet to publish its own policy document on integration and instead
provides links to national strategies, including Migration Nation (2008) and other
department-specific publications on integration. The OPMI also provides links to local
strategies of integration, including Dublin City Council ' s publication Towards Integration:

72

A City Framework (2008). The OPMl supp01ts and continues the mainstreaming of service
provisions for integration as laid out in Migration Nation (2008), though it is recognized on
the website that the actual delivery of integration services is the responsibility of
mainstream government departments (OPMI, Role ofthe Office, 2011).
Currently, the OPMI functions as a central hub for integration in Ireland. It collects
together all of the integration policy that has been developed in different departments or
local governments and makes them accessible from one location. It is also responsible for
the Cross-Departmental Group on Migrant Integration that was established to assist the
former Minister for Integration (OPMI, Cross-Departmental Group on Integration, 201 1).
This body includes senior civil servants and representatives from the departments and
offices that have major roles in integration. It is mentioned in Migration Nation as being
important for the Office of the Minister for Integration (now the OPMI), in order to ensure
that there is cohesion between government departments concerning integration and that
there is consistency between strategies and guidelines (Office of the Minister for
Integration 2008:20). 10 Meetings are organized as required in order "to review activities in
relation to migrant integration and to resolve issues which arise" (OPMI, CrossDepartmental Group on Integration, 2011). Up to the end of2014, the Cross-Departmental
Group met a total of 4 times, with the last meeting being held on March 26, 2014 (OPMI,
Cross-Departmental Group on Integration, 2011).

10

The departments represented in the Cross-Departmental Group, and thus seen by the Irish government as
having a significant role in integration, include: The Department of the Taoiseach; the Department of Public
Expenditure and Reform; the Department of Justice and Equality; the Department of Education and Skills; the
Department of the Envirorunent, Community and Local Government; the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and
Innovation; the Department of Health; the Department of Children and Youth Affairs; the Department of
Social Protection; the Department of Arts, Heritage and Gaeltacht Affairs; the Department of Transport,
Tourism and Sport; the Department of Defence; Central Statistics Office; and An Garda Siochana (OPMI,
Cross-Departmental Group on Integration, 2011).

73

4.2.2.2 Current OPMI Policy Review
Following the March 2014 meeting, the Minister for Justice and Equality
announced that the Cross-Departmental Group would be reviewing Ireland's approach to
integration of migrants. This review process includes reviewing the current integration
policy, meaning Migration Nation (2008), with an aim towards preparing a Draft
Integration Strategy (Anne Bevan, personal communication 2014). The review process
was announced in March 2014 and took the form of a Call for Submissions that appeared in
the national press and other selected media (OPMI 2014). The Call for Submissions on the
OPMI website was released in English and Irish, as well as French, Latvian, Lithuanian,
Polish, and Romanian (OPMI, Call for Submissions on New Integration Strategy, 2014).
The Call for Submissions invited key stakeholders and interested groups and members of
the public to write a submission on any aspect of Ireland 's migrant integration policy. The
Call for Submissions stated that these commentaries would be considered during the course
of the review process (OPMI, Call for Submissions on New Integration Strategy, 2014).
The deadline for the submissions was May 9th, 2014, after which the Cross-Departmental
Group began the review of the submitted reports. Besides the original Department and
Office representatives, the Cross-Departmental Group that reviewed the submissions also
included a representative from the County and City Managers Association (OPMI, Review
of Integration Strategy, 20 15).
The OPMI received over 80 submissions from different NGOs, groups, and
individuals with concerns and interests in migrant issues (OPMI, Submissions on Migrant
Integration Policy, 2014). In order to review the reports and recommendations, the CrossDepartmental Group held 5 consultative sessions where individuals and representatives of

74

the organizations who made submissions met directly with the group (OPMI, Review of
Integration Strategy, 20 15). Each individual and organization met separately with the
Cross-Departmental Group to present their submission. During tbis meeting the CrossDepartmental Group was able to ask the submitter questions concerning the content of their
report (Field notes, July 28, 2014; OPMI, Review of Integration Strategy, 2015). These
consultative meetings where held on June 23rd, July 71\ July 28th, September 8th, and
December 151 in 2014 (OPMI 2014). The individuals making up the Cross-Departmental
Group did not remain the same, but changed depending on the day and/or meeting (Field
notes July 28, 2014; Interview 3, July 29, 2014:1). Out ofthe 81 submissions, 27 were
presented at these consultative meetings and represented a range of groups, NGOs, one
individual, and one group of seven individuals (OPMI, Review of Integration Strategy,
20 15). 11 No indication was given by the OPMI on their website as to why these 27
submissions were the only ones that were presented.
While these submissions to the OPMI provide valuable information and critiques of
Ireland 's integration policy, as wi ll be discussed in greater detail in the following section
on policy analysis, it is unclear whether the new integration policy will fully incorporate
and address these concerns. The OPMI sent out a draft of the new strategy to key
stakeholders to review in October 2015 with the goal to publish the strategy as soon as
possible (OPMI, Review of the Integration Strategy, 2015; The House of the Oireachtas,
November 2015). The initial intent was to release the strategy in 2015 (The House of the
Oireachtas, September 20 14), however since the draft was released to the stakeholders,

11

See Appendix 2 of this thesis.

75

nothing further has been communicated and there has been no formal publication of the
strategy as of yet.
Alongside the consultative sessions in which the group discussed key policy areas
relevant to migrant integration and to the creation of the new integration policy, the CrossDepartmental Group has also held thematic meetings. The themes that it selected were:
education; access to public services and social inclusion; and the promotion of intercultural
awareness and combatting racism (The House of the Oireachtas, December 2014). These
themes are similar to what was first put forward in Migration Nation (2008) and, as will be
seen in the analysis below, were common themes in the submissions sent to the OPMI for
the integration policy review.
4.2.3 Local Authority Policy
When I first began my research, I did not expect to encounter a stakeholder in
refugee integration at a lower level of government. However, Dublin City Council (DCC),
specifically its Office for Integration, has been a very important participant in developing
integration strategies and services in Ireland, both as a local authority and as the capital city
of Ireland. In 2008, the DCC Office for Integration published its own integration policy
document entitled Towards Integration: A City Framework (2008). This was the Office ' s
first major publication and research project on integration. Towards Integration (2008)
was the DCC's response to the increased scale of immigration and diversity in the city.
This is similar to the creation of Migration Nation (2008) at the national level, however the
two publications were developed independently.
Dublin is different from the typical European model of city government in that the
DCC does not have control over some essential service providers within the city, including

76

health, education and policing (Maria Hegarty Equality Strategies Ltd. 2008:7). But
because these services closely affect the success and rate of integration, the DCC formally
signed a Declaration of Intent at the time Towards Integration (2008) was released. The
Declaration of Intent was signed by the Dublin City Development Board 12 as a sign of
commitment to the DCC 's integration policy. The Dublin City Development Board
included representatives from the Government Departments of Justice, Equality and Law
Reform, Health, Education and Science, and Social and Family Affairs (Interview 3, July
29, 2014).
Towards Integration (2008) is the DCC' s statement of commitment towards
integration and support for migrants and ethnic minorities in Dublin. Similar to Migration
Nation (2008), Towards Integration (2008) presents initiatives for a homogenized
understanding of 'migrants' and does not recognize the diversity that exists within the term
despite the fact that specific communities were recognized in statistical analysis and case
studies in the policy document. For example, refugees were identified in Towards
Integration (2008) as one of multiple groups entering Ireland, even though the DCC Office
for Integration has done little work with refugees specifically. Instead the Office for
Integration works with organizations and NGOs, such as SPIRASI and Irish Refugee
Council, which interact directly with refugees (Interview 3, July 29, 2014:7).
Towards Integration (2008) as a whole presents many areas that are important for
the integration of migrants. As with Migra tion Nation (2008), however, it is outdated and
lacks clear statements of how integration will be supported and, significantly, how it will
be made accessible to more vulnerable populations. In line with neoliberal approaches of

12 The Dublin City Development Board has since been replaced by a local development board introduced by

the Department of Local Governments as part of the 2014 restructuring (Interview 3, July 29, 2014).

77

empowering NGOs, many of the initiatives include providing support and/or funding for
other organizations that provide services to migrants, rather than the DCC creating the
needed services itself (Maria Hegarty Equality Strategies Ltd. 2008:56; Interview 3, July
29, 20 14:7). The rationale, as explained by the DCC Integration Officer, was to support
people and organizations who were experts and/or who had already developed programs
(Interview 3, July 29, 2014:7). Also, as was acknowledged by the signing of the
Declaration of Intent, the DCC does not control all of the essential service provisions
within the city and therefore cannot develop its own programs for these services. This
rationale is sound in that it recognizes the important roles of other organizations in refugee
integration, however, as I will discuss in greater detail in the policy analysis section, tbe
economic and political support of the local government does not always continue long
enough for NGOs to have sufficiently developed programs to continue to function without
that local government support (CultUr Migrants Centre 2014:9).
One example of the DCC supporting other organizations is the joint funding that the
DCC and UNESCO provide to the libraries in Dublin as cultural centres. In Towards
Integration (2008) it was recognized that libraries function as important places for migrants

and refugees to access information (Maria Hegarty Equality Strategies Ltd. 2008:48;
Interview 2, July 18, 2014:5). Libraries around Dublin now advertise various services,
including unemployment and money aid, depression counselling, family support, language
classes, and local cultural events. Some of these services are aimed at specific populations,
while others are designed for the general public (Field notes, August 6-8, 2014). Some
libraries also provide access to computers and the internet. Libraries in Dublin have
become important places that facilitate integration.

78

Towards integration (2008) remains the DCC 's only publication on integration.
However, in an interview I conducted with the DCC's Integration Officer, he stated that the
DCC Office for Integration planned to conduct a review of its integration policy between
September 2015 and February 2016 that will assess the goals set out in Towards

integration (2008) and create an updated policy that accurately reflects the current social
and economic context in Dublin (Interview 3, July 29, 2014:4). No other information has
yet been released concerning this review.
The review of DCC 's integration policy is part of a current trend that slowly has
been developing in the city in regards to integration. The DCC began to create campaigns
through its Office for Integration to support greater diversity, such as the "One City One
People" campaign. 13 Another example of this attention to integration is Dublin becoming
an Intercultural City in 2011 as discussed in chapter 1.
DCC 's continued support of the libraries and the campaign "One City One People"
is part of the "Diversity Advantage" approach ascribed to by the Intercultural Cities
Programme. As mentioned in chapter 1, the Intercultural Cities Programme is a project
that includes approximately 50 cities from around the world, (though mostly from Europe)
that look at intercultural ism in an engaged and interactive manner (Council of Europe,
2014). The Intercultural Cities Programme argues that it is to the benefit of the city, both
socially and economically, to label itself as an Intercultural City. The Programme fights
against the previous negative image of migrants and refugees portrayed in the media and

13

"One City One People" is a campaign that was launched in 20 I0 and runs each year. It focuses on
Dublin's "immigrant population to promote inclusion, integration and to combat racism and discrimination"
and to " promote the message that Dublin is an open city, a city which respects and embraces difference, is
accessible, safe and equal and does not accept racism and discrimination" (DCC, One City One People,
2014). The campaign is run by the DCC's Office for Integration and is supported by OPMI, various city
transport companies, migrant networks, organizations, museums, libraries, and galleries.

79

instead approaches cultural difference as "Diversity Advantage." In an interview, one
representative from DCC's Office for Integration explained Diversity Advantage, stating:
This idea of diversity advantage [is] that cities, the kind of cities of the world that
are doing really well, they' re innovative, they're creative, they' re diverse, they're
open, they' re really seeking a mixture of a kind of intercultural cosmopolitan world,
where arts are created, all this amazing type of creativity is coming out. .. We have
over 125 languages spoken [in Dublin]. We have international students, and new
young students coming up who speak 3 or 4languages. Naturally when you have a
mixture of people, put them together and they' II come up with a much better
product. And big companies know that. So this whole area of Diversity Advantage
and the advantage of migration to a city is what we're now trying to look at and get
across (Interview 3, July 29, 20 14).
Dublin is now trying to compete on a global level with other Intercultural Cities, such as
London, Paris, and Tokyo, where having an intercultural community is seen as beneficial
(Interview 2, July 18, 2014:7).
As part of their new emphasis on integration, the DCC is also involved in the
current OPMI integration policy review and has a representative present at the consultative
meetings (Field notes, July 28, 20 14). As both the capital city and a strong local authority,
the DCC was invited to be present for all of the submission meetings and follow-up
discussions. The DCC did not submit a report for the integration policy review itself. In
the past, however, the DCC has submitted reviews to the OPMI concerning housing, social
inclusion, and the role of the DCC Office oflntegration (Interview 3, July 29, 2014).
In these sections I presented the evolution of integration policy and government
structures connected to refugee integration in Dublin. The two current integration policies
that are of significance in Dublin, Migration Nation (2008) published by the state and
Towards Integration (2008) published by the DCC, were both developed prior to 2008
during Ireland 's economic boom. By 20 I 0 Ireland had experienced a full economic
collapse that required it to be bailed out by the EU and the International Monetary Fund
80

(IMF) (The Economist, Celtic Phoenix, 2015; The Economist, Getting Boomier, 2015;
Smith et al. 2014:4). This caused strict scrutiny of government spending on social
programs. As I will discuss in the next section, the result was that integration policies and
structures did not receive enough monetary investment to be adequately implemented and
developed.

4.3 Policy Analysis: State and Local Levels
Up to this point, this chapter has focused on detailing the evolution and
development of Ireland' s integration policies and structures. In this next section I build on
this foundation and conduct a cohesive policy analysis. To frame my discussion, I use the
submissions sent to the OPMI as part of the state government's current integration policy
review. For this analysis it is important to note that it is difficult to defmitively prove
whether multicultural policies positively or negatively influence refugee integration
(Kymlicka 1998:41 ; Murphy 2012: 120). As stated in chapter 2, multicultural policies are
"only one small part of the legislative toolbox available to governments" for integration
(Murphy 2012: 120). Therefore, there could be many different policy factors impacting
refugee integration in Ireland. However, as presented in chapter 2, multicultural theorists
provide a theoretical explanation as to why integration and multicultural policies should
have a positive influence on refugee integration when implemented correctly. Some
theorists, such as Kymlicka, provide examples where they argue that a strong correlation
exists between multicultural policies and successful integration (Kymlicka 1998). As I will
present in the following sections, Ireland 's government integration policies and structures
have not yet been developed enough to be able to identify whether or not this is the case in
Ireland, and Dublin specifically. However, based on what the secondary literature suggests

81

about successful integration policy, I argue that it is likely that Ireland's lack of policy and
structure development and implementation are in fact negatively influencing the integration
of refugees.
While conducting my analysis, I identified key points that were common
throughout the submissions. These key points relate to the physical manifestations of
integration that focus on inclusion of individuals at the state and public level (Kymlicka
1998:26; Modood 2013:146; Parekh 2009:43) as well as the individual or personal
understanding of integration (Kymlicka 1998:49,53; Lovell2003:4; Modood 2013: 147;
Parekh 2009:40), as outlined in chapter 2. As I will discuss, many of these key points often
reiterate what was previously written in past integration policies, such as Migration Nation
(2008). This is problematic as it indicates that there has been a lack of effective policy and
service implementation since the publication of Migration Nation (2008).
Before conducting the policy analysis, it is necessary to have a clear understanding
of what would constitute a good or successful integration policy. I argue that a successful
integration policy would articulate a clear definition of integration as a two way process
between the local community, including the governing structure and local population, and
the individuals who are seeking entrance into that community. This definition must
recognize the diversity that exists both within and between these categories, and include the
early stages of refugees' migration experience (i.e. being asylum seekers). The integration
policy should identify key factors that impact integration, such as citizenship and
immigration laws, employment, education, housing, and a sense of community and
belonging, and ensure that all members of society (both the dominant and minority groups)
have equal and fair access to these services. This must include recognition that equal or

82

fair access does not necessarily mean the same for all, but that minority or marginalized
groups may require additional accommodations so that they do not face disadvantages in
accessing these services (Kymlicka 1998:41). The policy would also need to identify the
roles and responsibilities of each sector of society, including the government, NGOs, local
community, and minority sectors, in order to encourage all members of society to be active
participants in the integration process. Finally, there must be clear objectives and steps for
implementing the policy and how to assess and evaluate its progress.
In my analysis, I identified four key points from the submissions to the OPMI. The
first point is that there has been a lack of implementation of, and monetary investment in,
integration policies and structures by the Irish government. A second key point was that
the responsibilities of the Irish government have not been made transparent to the public
and this needs to be rectified. This includes clearly identifying the roles of the state and
local governments. Thirdly, I found that the submissions highlighted the need for a
stronger relationship between the government and NGOs, including better sharing of
information. The last point identified in my analysis of the submissions was the criticism
of the Direct Provision Accommodation system for asylum seekers. In the following
sections I discuss in greater detail these key points from the submissions in order to analyze
Ireland 's integration policy and its effect on refugee integration.
4.3.1 Lack of Implementation and Investment
As stated above, of great concern is Ireland's lack of implementation of, and
investment in, the proposed integration policies and structures. While Migration Nation
(2008) identified areas of integration that needed to be addressed, there was no
accompanying action plan for implementing the policy statements. There was also no

83

monetary investment by the government in developing new structures to meet the identified
integration needs (Crosscare 2014:4; ESRI 20 14:6; Farming 2011 :38; ICI 2014:9). These
policies have remained what Fanning calls ' paper policies', which are policies that have
been proposed but are not developed any further (Fanning 2011 :38). The DCC Integration
Officer described paper polices as policies which "sit in shelves and nobody ever
reads ... they just become documents of 'oh we ticked that box ' but nobody ever reads
[them], nobody ever actually looks at what has to be done out of it" (Interview 3 July 29,
2014:6). Therefore, despite being published in 2008, many of the recommendations in
Migration Nation (2008) are the same issues being raised six years later in the submissions
to the OPMI. As stated in this chapter's introduction, there is the possibility that even had
these policies been implemented, they still may not have influenced a positive integration
outcome in Dublin. The point I wish to make here is that due to the lack of implementation
and investment by the Irish government, the policies and structures are not yet at the point
where it is possible to judge if they would accomplish their goals or not- and this in itself
is a significant barrier in my attempt to understand the mechanics of successful integration
policy.
The submissions to the OPMI identified services not being adequately provided,
including: access to citizenship information; education; employment aid; physical and
mental health; housing; language supports; legal; and social welfare (cf. AkiDwa 20 14;
Nasc 2014; NCP 2014; SPIRASI 2014; The Integration Centre 2014). These services fall
under the jurisdiction of various government departments and therefore require a strong
overarching action plan for implementation. As previously stated, these are the same
services that were listed in Migration Nation (2008) as important issues for integration

84

(Office of the Minister for Integration 2008:51-61). The submissions contend that these
services are still not being provided in an easily accessible manner to migrants, particularly
to vulnerable communities such as refugees.
Another part of the policy that has not been implemented is the proposed structures
that were supposed to support the governance and assessment of integration. In its section
on 'New Structures', the OPMI states that:
With regard to new structures and co-ordinating mechanisms, it is not now
proposed to establish the three new bodies referred to in Migration Nation because
such a move would be inappropriate in current circumstances when State bodies are
being rationalised or abolished (OPMI, New Structures, 20 II ).
The "current ci rcumstances" that the OPMI is referring to have to do with the collapse of
Ireland's economy. In 2008 Ireland officially entered into a recession (see chapter 1). The
government greatly reduced spending on social welfare programs in 2009, including
healthcare, education, and welfare benefits (Smith et al. 2014:4). As stated earlier, by 2010
Ireland had experienced a full economic collapse and required bailout from both the EU
and the IMF (The Economist, Celtic Phoenix, 2015; The Economist, Getting Boornier,
2015; Smith et al. 2014:4). As a result, all government departments were under scrutiny
for any excessive spending.
The three new bodies that were proposed in Migration Nation (2008), but were not
established due to the economic collapse, were the Commission on Integration, the
Ministerial Council on Integration, and the Task Force on Integration (Office of the
Minister for Integration 2008:40-42). These three new proposed structures were to be
support systems to the Minister for Integration in different capacities. The Commission on
Integration was to provide a regular review of the ' field of integration,' including "advice
to the Minister [of Integration] on issues affecting integration, conducting research in the
85

field of integration and promoting understanding of integration through publications,
seminars, etc" (Office of the Minister for Integration 2008:40). The Ministerial Council on
Integration' s members were to be migrants who would give advice to the Minister of
Integration concerning issues faced by migrants (Office of the Minister for Integration
2008:41), while the Task Force on Integration was to be a body of 12 members which
examined the issues and challenges that would arise from the integration of communities in
Ireland (Office of the Minister for Integration 2008:42).
Many of the submissions to the OPMI identified a gap in governance due to the
lack of implementation of these structures proposed in Migration Nation (2008). The
submissions state that there is a need for a monitoring body for integration in Ireland that
exists outside of the OPMI. This monitoring body would work in consultation with the
OPMI and the Cross-Departmental Group and would ensure that proper follow-up
assessment of the new integration policy would occur (Galway Co Community 2014:5;
ICTU 2014:6; Kilkenny Integration 2014:4; Nasc 2014:6; Womens Integration Centre
2014:1-2).
4.3.2 Government Roles and Responsibilities
Another common issue in the submissions to the OPMI was that the responsibilities
of government departments were not clearly identified to the public (Akinyemi et al.
2014:1; Mayo Intercultural Action 2014:10; NCP 2014:8; SOLAS 2014:10). As I
discussed previously, government departments and their sub-departments govern different
policy areas and fields of Irish society. Government departments change and evolve as
new governments are elected. This includes the changing of department names as different
service areas are added or removed. An example of the changing names and
86

responsibilities of departments over time is the Department of Justice and Equality. Over
its history, this department has also been called the Department of Justice, Equality and
Law Reform, and the Department of Justice, Equality and Defence in order to reflect what
sectors it was governing. This evolution of departments has resulted in confusion over
which departments are responsible for specific services or policy implementation. As
stated in my discussion of multicultural theory (see chapter 2), easily accessible services
are important for integration (Modood 2013: 146; Parekh 2009:43). When services become
harder for vulnerable communities to access, it is likely to assume that it will have a
negative impact on their ability to integrate.
The OPMI reviews further stated that there needs to be better communication
between the state government and local authorities in order to address the inconsistencies
and contradictions that exist between state and local government services. These
inconsistencies cause procedural issues that impede refugees and migrants' access to
services. For example, the Department of Justice and Equality insists on retaining
migrant's identification documents while they wait for their application for social welfare
at the local level, yet their identification is required by the Garda for the application process
(Mayo Intercultural Action 2014: 10; SOLAS 2014:1 0).

In addition, the OPMI submissions indicated that local authorities need to be
adequately supported in their integration efforts by the government, both politically and
fmancially, as political leadership often starts at the local level and many local authorities
have already begun to address the integration needs of their local communities (Crosscare
2014:16; Doras Luimni 2014:4; Kilkenny Integration 2014:4; Nasc 2014:6; SPIRASI

87

20 14:6; Wornens Integrated Network 2014: 1). Therefore, it was argued that it would be
proactive to support local authority initiatives.
4.3.3 Relationship between the Government and NGOs
One important issue of integration identified in Migration Nation (2008) was the
relationship between the state government and NGOs. In Migration Nation the state
government recognized that NGOs developed in response to the needs of newcomers,
mainly asylum seekers and refugees, to fill gaps in services (2008:55). It also recognized
that these NGOs function as advocates at both the national and local level and
recommended that it continued interactions with NGOs (Office of the Minister for
Integration 2008:56-57). Despite this acknowledgement, a common point in the
submissions was that there needs to be greater communication and interaction between the
OPMI and NGOs. Many of the reports sent to the OPMI were from NGOs. These reports
highlighted a number of issues, including a lack of sharing information and coordination of
services, as well as the detrimental effects delays or cuts in funding have had on NGOs'
service provision (Conlan 2014:41; Culrur Migrants Centre 2014:9; FAI 2014:1 0; Forum
Polonia 2014:4; Galway Co Community 2014:6; ICI 2014: 6; Nasc 2014: 15; Pavee Point
2014:4; RCNI 2014:6; SOLAS 2014:15; The Integration Centre 2014:25; UNHCR

2014:67). As I will discuss in chapter 5, many NGOs do not actually interact with the
OPMI or its policies and are instead connected to other government departments for service
provision.

88

4.3.4 Direct Provision Accommodation
One final integration issue highlighted in submissions to the OPMI is the critiques
of the Direct Provision Accommodation 14 system and the detrimental effects it has on
asylum seekers and refugees. This is discussed in more detail in chapter 5 in regards to the
role ofNGOs in refugee integration in Ireland. However, what is important for this
analysis is that the system of Direct Provision was an issue in the majority of the
submissions to the OPMI and was common with all types of submitters including NGOs;
faith-based groups; sports groups; academics; and local individuals. Current integration
policy in Ireland does not address Direct Provision as asylum seekers are not seen as
permanent residents and therefore do not fall under the jurisdiction of the OPMI. Instead,
asylum seekers are under the jurisdiction of the Department of Justice and Equality's subdepartment of the Lrish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (INIS) and the 'three pillar
structure' ofthe Office of the Refugee Applications Commissioner (ORAC), the Refugee
Appeals Tribunal (RAT), and the Reception and Integration Agency (RIA) (INIS, Asylum,
20 14). Because they are not seen as permanent or long-term residents, the state
government does not support asylum seekers' integration into Irish society. In migration
theory it is argued that all stages of immigration, including reception and settlement, have
an effect on refugees' physical , mental, and emotional well-being which impact their
ability to integrate (Ager 1999:2). Therefore, it could be argued that by using this approach
the state government is actively hindering refugees' integration by not recognizing their
previous experiences as asylum seekers and beginning the integration process sooner. Due

14

Direct Provision Accommodation is the system governed by the Reception and Integration Agency (RIA)
to provide obligatory accommodation to asylum seekers. This system provides asylum seekers with
accommodation, food, and a small weekly allowance (Smith 2009:95-96). In the rest of this thesis I will refer
to it as Direct Provision.

89

to the current situation, when individuals gain refugee status they are in effect beginning at
a deficit in their integration. As this was the most common issue in the submissions, it will
be very interesting whether or not this issue is addressed in the new integration policy.
4.4 Conclusion
In this chapter I focused on government policies and structures that are related to
refugee integration. By first reviewing the structure of the Irish government system,
followed by a review of integration policy at the EU, state, and local government levels I
was able to present the background context for my argument.

In my policy analysis, I presented four key points that were common throughout the
submissions sent to the OPMl. Multicultural theory suggests that the current government
policies and structures likely are having a negative impact on the integration of refugees by
inadequately addressing these key points. This is mainly a result of the lack of
implementation of, and monetary investment in. past policies. The consequence is that the
services that were identified as necessary for integration in 2008 have stiU not been
provided. Integration policies, specifically Migration Nation (2008), are not inherently
racist or discriminatory but, I would argue, fall under Kymlicka's di scussion of
"unintentional burdens." As mentioned in chapter 1, Kymlicka defines unintentional
burdens as remnants of past political institutions and rules that were originally created for a
different social and political context (Kymlicka 1998:47). Migration Nation (2008) was
developed prior to the economic crisis of 2008 and the 2010 bail out by the EU and the
IMF (The Economist, Celtic Phoenix, 20 15; The Economist, Getting Boomier, 20 15; Smith
et al. 2014:4). Thus it is functioning in a different social, political and economic context
than the one for which it was written.

90

Ireland has also continued to experience high immigration rates of asylum seekers
and refugees. Migration Nation (2008) started with a weak action plan for implementing
the identified integration measures (Cullen 2009: 109). Over the years this has been
exasperated by immigration and the resulting increase in ethnic diversity, as well as from
the continual lack of adequate service provision by the government, increasing the policy's
unintentional burdens for refugees. Essential service provision for refugee integration has
therefore fa llen to non-government bodies and grass root activism. The roles ofNGOs in
refugee integration and how they relate to refugees' lived experi ence of integration is the
focus of chapter 5.
To suggest that state government integration policies and structures may be
negatively impacting refugee integration through unintentional burdens is not to minimize
the negative effects it could have for refugees. Refugees would have to overcome these
burdens in order to integrate and, as discussed in chapter 2, it likely that integration is
negatively affected when deterrents are in place at the political level and when basic
services are not easily accessible (Kymlicka 1998: 19; Modood 2013: 146; Parekh 2009:4445). In this thesis, I focused on Irish government integration policies. I did not include indepth reviews of government legislation or immigration regulations, which may have
changed the outcomes of the analysis (Fanning 20 II ; Lentin 2007; Smith 2008), but rather
I have concentrated on the policies and practices.
As stated in chapter 2, it is important to recognize that integration is impacted by
various political and social factors. Therefore, the possibility remains that even if these
policies had been fully implemented, refugee integration may still not have occurred. As
stated by Murphy:

91

Integration and social cohesion can also be affected by things like the relative
health of the host society economy (when times are hard, immigration is more
likely to become a focal point of public anger); the length of time an immigration
policy has been in place (which affects the degree to which citizens have become
used to the idea of accepting newcomers); or extraordinary political events
(terrorism for example) that turn public opinion against particular kinds of
minorities or against the idea of multiculturalism per se (Murphy 2012:121 ).
Ireland's immigration policies are relatively new and developed in reaction to increased
immigration. Ireland, along with the rest of the global community, is also part of the
current movement to accommodate refugees from war-tom locations. It must be
recognized that together all of these factors influence refugee integration in Dublin, not just
government policies and structures. The Irish government has also taken steps to further
develop its integration strategies in the current integration policy review and has been
involved in the funding of local NGOs and public events. Therefore, despite some of the
lapses in policy and service provision, the Irish government has at least on paper, taken
some steps towards supporting refugee integration.
As stated earlier, it could be argued the state government actively and directly
hinders refugee integration through the use of Direct Provision for asylum seekers. This
will be discussed further in chapter 5 in relation to the lived experience of integration. In
chapter 5, I conduct the bottom-up analysis. I discuss both the role ofNGOs in refugee
integration and, importantly, how refugees themselves understand and experience
integration. Chapter 5 builds on the discussions presented in this chapter and facilitates a
more holistic analysis of refugee integration in .Ireland.

92

Chapter 5: NGOs' and Refugees' Experience oflntegration
In chapter 4 I argued that due to ad hoc development and lack of implementation, it

is likely that Ireland's policies and structures negatively influence refugee integration given
what the multicultural literature presents about successful integration policies. In spite of
this, refugee integration does occur in Ireland. As this chapter will argue, a common
response to this situation has been the neoliberal approach of a reliance on NGOs and
individual action. In this chapter I discuss how integration takes place in the services
provided by NGOs and through refugees' own agency. I first present the roles ofNGOs
and how they influence refugee integration in Ireland. I use a case study from my own
research to illustrate how a NGO faciJjtates both the physical manifestations of integration
as well as the personal and more subjective experience of integration. Following this, I
focus on how refugees themselves understand and experience integration. This section
presents key identifiers that refugees have highlighted as markers of integration. This
section is important as it provides space for refugees' voices on the topic of integration.
5.1 Understanding Integration as a Two Way Process
It is important to first review how integration is defined in Ireland before I begin
these discussions. The leading understanding of integration in Ireland was fust developed

in Integration: A Two Way Process (1999) and was reiterated in Migration Nation (2008).

In Integration: A Two Way Process, integration is defined as a two way process and as the
"ability to participate to the extent that a person needs and wishes in all of the major
components of society without having to relinquish his or her own cultural identity"
(1999:9). Migration Nation further states that "this policy statement seeks to emphasise the
concept that integration is a two-way [sic] process requiring mutual adaptation" (2008: 17).

93

The government's understanding of integration as a two way process is based on the
assumption that in order for integration to be successful both the migrant and the receiving
community must be involved in integration.
At fust glance, the government's definition of integration is the same as how NGOs
and refugees define integration. Some NGOs and advocates, such as UNHCR Ireland, 15
even quote the above defmition in their own policy reviews (UNHCR 2013:11). However,
upon deeper inspection it becomes evident that the practical understanding of what
integration means as a two way process is very different between NGOs and the
government.
NGOs, advocacy groups, and refugees' practice of integration includes a more
diverse understanding of the process and lived experience of integration. UNHCR states
that: "At the core of UNHCR's definition is the concept of integration as a two way process
and this is premised on 'adaptation' of one party and ' acceptance' by the other .. .It does not
however require the refugee to relinquish their cultural identity" (UNHCR 2013: 11). This
understanding of both adaption and acceptance as central aspects of integration is important
to many NGOs' and refugees' active or lived definition of integration. As is evident in the
submissions sent into the OPMI, many NGOs argue that in practice the Irish government
does not adequately address the ' acceptance' or mutual accommodation aspect of
integration in the two way process despite the fact that it is included in the government' s
policy defmition of integration (cf. Doras Luimni 2014:15; NCP 2014:3).
This relates to Gray's (2006b) critique (mentioned in chapter 4) of Ireland's first
integration policy Integration: A Two Way process (1999). Gray argued that the Irish

15 In the rest of my thesis when I use 'UNHCR' I am referring to UNHCR Ireland.

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government understands the two way integration process to mean that the individual
migrants will work on themselves to integrate into the local community and the country in
general, while the receiving community achieves its part of integration through the creation
of policies and structures that govern "integration" without actually having to adapt itself
(Gray 2006b: 130). Gray's critique of this neoliberal approach is that is assumes that any
special needs or requirements refugees may have will "disappear once they gain equal
access to mainstream services" (Gray 2006b: 130). In chapter 2, I presented Kymlicka and
Parekh's argument that fair and supportive multicultural policies may require special or
additional accommodations in order to ensure equal access (Kymlicka 1998:52; Parekh
2006:262). The state would therefore be required to make additional adaptations, such as
affirmative action programs, inclusion of different cultural histories and literature in the
education curriculum, accommodation of cultural and/or religious dress and dietary codes,
and flexible work hours in recognition of different religious holidays (Kymlicka 1998:42;
Murphy 2012: 117). As argued by Gray and many of the NGO submissions, the Irish
government does not adequately address, nor put into action, this level of adaption and
accommodation.
NGOs argue that the racism refugees experience reflects this lack of acceptance and
adaptation. As explained in chapter 1, the development of' Irishness' was part of a
political move to create a sense of cohesion in the country when gaining independence
from Britain. However, local communities in Ireland are now debating what "Irishness"
means, as more diverse ethnicities settle in the country and begin to gain citizenship. This
has contributed to an increasing lack of acceptance of, and racism towards, ethnic
minorities on the part of the white middle/ lower class local Irish population (Fanning

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2002:26, 38; Field notes July 18 and 28, 2014). Fanning states that refugees and
immigrants often get blamed for the problems of the indigenous poor, especially during
times of economic strife, which can lead to discrimination or even violence (Fanning
2002:27). Fanning describes an incident in 2000 when, using pool cues from a nearby pub,
a group of local men attacked a Dublin shop owned by African 16 refugees (Fanning
2002:27). One Irish national explained this type of incident stating:
So lrish people are going 'well Lsee this Nigerian person, and they're very much
Nigerian. They' re wearing their clothes, they're going to their mass and they're
eating their food. What am I doing? You know, I' m in my Adidas 17 tracksuit,
watching something on British television, going for vindaloo curry tonight, playing
soccer, but I like to watch X Factor as well. And who am I as an Irish, what am I
doing? I'm not reading Irish poetry, I'm not doing Irish dancing. [Irish] people then
[feel] challenged, because [they] go 'Fuck I don't know, who am I really?' and they
get very angry and they go 'how dare you, how dare you come into our community
and be that' because we don't know who we are, we're just bland nonsense.
Especially the white working class communities because everyone looks the same.
They' re all on cutting edge poor, they're maybe all smoking, drinking, down in the
pub, drugs, abuse, all the kids wearing the same clothes, listening to the same
music. But who are they? If you were to ask them who are you, are you Irish? They
could be very nationalistic; they could suddenly turn around and start fighting
(Interview, July 18, 2014: 19).
Recognizing the cultural conflict that local Irish are experiencing, how can refugees
integrate when the local community relies on 'difference' to separate itself from other
cultures? This relates to Putnam's theory, presented in chapter 2, of bonding social capital
and how it can reinforce seemingly homogenous groups and identities, which can create
out-group antagonism (Putnam 2000:23) where in this case, the "out-group" is refugees.
Many NGOs highlighted concern for antagonism towards refugees in their submissions to
the OPMI and explored what possibilities exist for bridging the different cultural groups

16 Specific country of origin was not specified.
17

Adidas is a sports apparel brand started in Germany.

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(Cairde 2014:4; Culrur Migrants Centre 2014:11; The Integration Centre 2014:29; Nasc
2014: 13; NYCI 2014:4; UNHCR 2013:69).
One response proposed by NGOs is for the state government to create strong
national policies that support integration and combat racism. By having a strong national
integration policy that supports ethnic minorities and makes racism illegal, it is hoped that
a trickle-down effect may occur where acceptance at the governmental level of society will
help encourage acceptance in everyday interactions of the public (Cairde 2014:4; ClB
2014:4; NYCI 2014:4; HEIT 2014:1; ICI 2014:6; ICTU 2014:6; The Integration Centre
2014:29; SARI 2014:2). Making racism illegal would include banning media- such as
newspapers; advertisements; political campaigns; and public announcements - from using
racial stereotyping and racist content (Black Irish Association 2014:2). Further, NGOs
argue that the state government needs to introduce "specific legal provision that makes
committing an offence that is motivated by hate or racism an aggravating factor, allowing
for a more severe punishment" (Nasc 2014: 13). This would require the Garda to have a no
tolerance approach for racism and have a clearly defined process for how to report racist
incidents quickly and accurately (cf. Cffi 2014:4; HEIT 2014:1; NYC! 2014:4). These
NGOs do not specify, however, who defines what constitutes a racist incident or what
precautions would be necessary to protect free speech and the misuse of the system.
NGOs have an important role in Ireland as advocates and the public voice for many
minority communities, including asylum seekers and refugees, and provide many services
and programs. In the following section, I will discuss NGOs' roles in greater detail and
outline how they relate to refugee integration. However, NGOs are not the only
stakeholders who facilitate refugee integration. Refugees are active agents in their own

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integration and, as is discussed later in this chapter, have their own understanding of what
integration means. Therefore, in this chapter I present both the roles ofNGOs in refugee
integration and how refugees themselves understand and experience integration in Ireland.
5.2 The Roles of NGOs: Services and Advocacy
A NGO is typically, though not always, organized by concerned members of the
majority who advocate for minority communities and often exercise the minorities' group
rights for them by controlling the legal and organizational aspects of the NGO (Nickel
1997:250). In the early years of the Celtic Tiger (mid 1990s) there was a rapid emergence
of a large number ofNGO advocacy groups in Ireland in response to the increase in
immigration to Ireland. These NGOs initially included mostly NGOs organized and run by
individuals of Irish background (Cullen 2009: 113). However, there were also a number of
minority-led NGOs in Ireland where ethnic communities started their own organizations
through grassroots movements in response to their own identified needs (Cullen 2009: 121).

In line with typical neoliberal policy approaches, the state began to provide funding
to NGOs instead of developing its own services as NGOs had already set up programs and
services to meet the needs of migrants (Cullen 2009: 102). The Irish government now relies
on NGOs to continue to fill these gaps in the essential services. Therefore, NGOs in

Ireland continue to play an important role in service provision and advocacy for refugees,
recognizing that not all NGOs in Ireland focus on migrants and refugees.
Central to NGOs' roles as advocates and service providers is their focus on
particular communities or ethnic groups. NGOs develop services for the specific needs of
these communities, which differs from the state government' s approach ofmainstreaming
services. The diversity across NGOs is evident in both past research I have conducted for

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Dr. Angele Smith under the research title "Multiculturalism & Integration of New MultiEthnic Communities in Ireland: Making Connections and Identifying Needs" as well as in
the NGOs who supplied submissions to the OPM1. Many of the minority groups represent
ethnic groups, such as Polish (Forum Polonia 2014; Polish Educational Society in Ireland
2014); East Indian (Irish India Council); Roma (Pavee Point 2014; Crosscare 2014), and
Irish Travellers (DICE 2014; ICTU 2014; Pavee Point 2014). Other NGOs, such as the
ones in which I am specifically interested in, focus on asylum seekers and refugees. Some
of the more prominent NGOs in Ireland who work with asylum seekers and refugees
include the Integration Centre, New Communities Partnership (NCP), Akidwa, SPIRASI,
and Migrants Rights Centre. The services offered at these NGOs are developed to meet the
unique situations and needs of asylum seekers and refugees. This can include: legal help
for attaining residency or leave to remain; housing; employment; education, such as
language classes, literacy classes, computer skills, and life skills; health services; and
centres for cultural events and activities. 18
As previously mentioned, the Irish Government separates asylum seekers and
refugees into different legal categories that are placed under different government
departments. However, what many NGOs are discovering is that this legal separation can
be detrimental to understanding the needs of these individuals. NGOs that focus their
advocacy on asylum seekers and refugees do not view these individuals as parts of separate
groups and instead work with the understanding that asylum seekers and refugees make up
the same community at different legal stages. Thus, NGOs are advocating for greater
support for individuals transitioning out of Direct Provision after obtaining refugee status
18

This information is based on research I have conducted under Dr. Angele Smith under the research working
title "Multiculturalism & Integration of New Multi-Ethnic Communities in Ireland: Making Connections and
Identifying Needs".

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(UNHCR 2013:43). By recognizing asylum seekers and refugees as the same group on a
continuum, services can be developed that span both legal categories. Many NGOs are
also now public advocates for ending Direct Provision, or at least undertaking a major
reassessment of the Direct Provision system, and reorganizing the process for gaining
refugee status (cf. Conlan 2014:39; CultUr Migrants Centre 2014:4; Crosscare 2014:13;
SOLAS 2014:4; SPIRASI 2014:4; UNHCR 2013:64-66,69).
The critique of Direct Provision for asylum seekers is part of another important
advocacy role that NGOs play in Ireland, which is reviewing government policy, providing
recommendations, and putting pressure on the government for policy changes (Cullen
2009, 2010; Gray 2006a). NGOs have provided recommendations for international
documents, such as the European Commission Against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI
20 13), 19 as well as fo r national policies. As mentioned in chapter 4, a number ofNGOs
submitted reviews to the OPMI in response to the Call for Submissions. Through this
process, NGOs are taking an active role in reviewing the current integration policy and
providing their insights into the reality of integration for migrants in their everyday lives.
Many of these submissions were sent to the OPMI in the form of research reports that are
in-depth examinations of integration, and pertain to each particular NGOs' area of interest
and what they believe is lacking in the current integration policy Migration Nation (2008).
In addition to submitting reports, NGOs are also involved in the OPMI integration

policy review through meetings with the Government Cross-Departmental Group, which is

19 The ECRI is an independent human rights monitoring body established by the European Commission,
which monitors each country within the European member states regarding racism and intolerance over five
year cycles. In total, ECRI will conduct five monitoring cycles, with summary publications produced at the
end of each monitoring cycle (ECRI 2013:5), that is in 1998, 2002, 2007,2013, and 2018. ECRI produces
summary publications based on analyses of data from a wide variety of sources, including recommendations
from NGOs, which have heavily influenced ECRJ 's summary of racism and intolerance in Ireland.

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the governing body examining the submissions to the OPMI. In these meetings NGOs
present their submissions and discuss the main points in further detail, and allow the CrossDepartmental Group to ask questions about the submission or the NGO. Whether or not
the submissions and these meetings have had any major impact on the development of the
Irish government' s new integration policy will only be evident once the government
releases the policy.
Despite the positive role ofNGOs as advocates and service providers, the NGOs'
role as public figures for marginalized and vulnerable communities is not without
problems, nor should they be exempt from critical assessment. Some scholars believe that
using an agent from outside of the stakeholder group, such as a majority-led NGO, may not
be as effective since the agent is not part of the community and may not fully understand
the community's needs (N ickel 1997:250). Even within grassroots or minority-led NGOs,
there is still the possibility of misrepresentation of the needs of the vulnerable community
by those who hold power within the NGO. Many NGOs in Ireland have multi-ethnic teams
that include members of the various ethnic groups in order to have appropriate
representation. Despite this ethnic representation, NGOs are still formal organizations and
therefore require critical assessment.
There are also issues related with NGOs providing essential services and relying on
government funding. One issue is that the services available to refugees and other minority
groups vary between cities and counties depending on which NGOs are present in each
area. This may create situations where refugees must travel across the country to receive
essential services not available in their region. For example, asylum seekers and refugees
who require specialized mental and physical therapy for torture and trauma must travel to

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receive therapy, as the NGO SPIRASI (located in Dublin) is the only organization in
Ireland that specializes in torture rehabilitation (Field notes, July 28, 2014; !Donate,
SPIRASI, 20 15). Many refugees, especially those who have recently left Direct Provision,
do not have the means or ability to travel to receive needed services at SPIRASI as often as
would someone living in Dublin (Field notes July 28, 2014).
Further, NGOs only receive short-term funding from the government, which is
problematic for the continuous delivery of services. Short-term funding is provided to
NGOs for 3 to 4 years (Field notes July 24, 2014). Government funding has traditionally
been the main source of money for NGOs. Losing this funding can cause a NGO to end
services or to close down (Culrur Migrants Centre 2014:9; Doras Luimni 2014: 15;
Interview, July 18, 2014:4; SOLAS 2014: 14; The Integration Centre 2014:31). Many
NGOs are experiencing a funding crisis and are looking to other sources for money, which
can be difficult to secure for long-term service provision (Crosscare 2014:4). One NGO
stated that:
Reliance on philanthropic organisations and the EU as the main financial basis for
the implementation of an Irish migrant integration policy shows a lack of
commitment to the issues. This is an issue of broad national importance and it
should be funded directly on a permanent basis from the national exchequer
(Crosscare 2014:4).
The Irish government only provides short-term funding for NGO programs because any
long-term funding would be a recognition that the service is an 'essential service,' which
would then require the government to take responsibility for it (Carlow Integration Forum
2014:4; Field notes July 24, 2014). The result is that NGOs either change their
organization or program name every few years in order to be able to reapply for funding as
a 'new' NGO or program. This enables them to keep receiving the money needed to

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supply the services. As is the case with the rapidly changing names and responsibilities of
state departments, this causes confusion for people, both for the clients using the services
and the workers at other NGOs, as many people cannot remember which NGOs still exist,
which NGOs have changed their names, or what services are still being provided (Field
notes July 24, 20 14).
Recognizing the influence of a neoliberal approach to refugee integration service
provision in Ireland and the rolling back of the government, raises the larger question of
who is best equipped to deliver these services: NGOs or the state? NGOs are currently
providing the majority of integration services to refugees, as mentioned in chapter 4, and
developed in response to the perceived needs of asylum seekers and refugees. Based on
this and the fact that NGOs have been filling this role since the 1990s and have developed
the necessary programs based on their service provision experience, it could be argued that
NGOs are currently better equipped to provide these services than the government.
However, as presented in this chapter, NGO service provision has problems which could be
addressed by increasing the government's role in refugee integration service provision as
suggested by the submissions to the OPMI. This increased role would include providing
long-term funding for programs and recognizing asylum seekers and refugees as part of the
same community. Whether or not this occurs wi ll only be evident after the new integration
policy is released.

5.3 Case Study: SPIRASI
During my fieldwork in Dublin, Ireland I carried out ethnographic participant
observation at a NGO in order to gain a greater understanding of its role in refugee
integration. The NGO that I connected with was the Spiritan Asylum Services Initiatives
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(SPIRASD. As mentioned in chapter 3, SPIRASI' s target cl ientele are asylum seekers and
refugees with a focused interest in victims of torture. SPIRASI supports the individual in a
holistic manner and uses a combined approach of Rehabilitation, including physical,
mental, and emotional rehabilitation, and Integration/Education (Interview l , July 16,
2014: 12; SPIRASI, About, 2015).
As mentioned in my methods, I went to SPIRASI almost every day over a two week
period, for 2 to 5 hours each day. I job shadowed with the receptionist at the front desk and
spent time with SPIRASI' s Integration Officer and other staff members. 1 also interacted
with refugees in informal settings, talking and spending time with them at the centre. I
would have tea and lunch in the communal coffee room with the staff and clients and I
attended two conversational English classes. Through these experiences at SPIRASI I was
able to learn about and observe how an NGO supports and advocates refugee integration.
This was important for my research as it aided in understanding the two way approach of
integration between the receiving community and refugees. In regards to the receiving
community, my thesis focused on the state and how it influences refugee integration. I did
not speak directly with the local Irish population, however, as will be discussed below,
SPIRASI provided some opportunities to learn indirectly about how refugees integrate into
the local population. I recognize that SPIRASI represents a safe place of integration, which
may not directly correlate with refugees' experiences outside of its walls. However, this
space is important to examine how refugees first learn to negotiate and begin to experience
their integration in Dublin.

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5.3.1 History

SPIRASI was created in 1999 by the Congregation of the Holy Spirit, who are an
order of Catholic priests also known as the Spiritans, in response to a needs assessment that
the Spiritans commissioned in 1997 (Interview 1 July 16, 2014:1; SPIRASI, About, 2014).
This needs assessment was commissioned because of the large number of newcomers in
Ireland and the lack of administrative or legislative preparedness that the Spiritans felt
existed in Ireland at the time (SPIRASI, About, 20 14). The newcomers, who included
asylum seekers, programed and conventional refugees, and other immigrants, needed state
support upon arrival which the Irish government was not equipped to give them (Interview
1 July 16, 20 14). The needs assessment highlighted a number of priority needs, including:
resource materials on rights and entitlements of new arrivals; independent medical and
psychosocial support for vulnerable torture survivors; provision of support services,
including trained interpreters; English language and IT training to enable integration; and
public awareness education and promotion of interculturalism (SPIRASI, About, 20 14).
SPIRASI was created as a NGO under the trusteeship of the Spiritans to meet these needs
for asylum seekers and refugees (Interview 1 July 16, 2014). This type of service is not
uncommon for the Spiritans who focus their services on people suffering from human
rights injustices. Typically this service occurs outside of Ireland in other parts of the
world, such as in Africa, where the Spiritans travel to conduct missions (Interview 1 July
16, 2014; Interview 4 August 5, 2014).
When SPIRASI first opened in Dublin, Ireland in 1999 its services included English
language classes and computer ski lls classes. Alongside SPIRASI's target group of asylum
seekers and refugees they also accepted other immigrants who had need of their services.

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Initially SPIRASI did not have any permanent staff and was run solely by volunteers. Most
of the volunteers were Spiritan priests, while the rest of the volunteers came from the local
population (Interview July 16, 2014). In 2003 this changed after the Spiritan volunteers
were successful in applying for funding from the Department of Health, when they
recognized that many in their target group had suffered torture. Speaking about the
development of SPIRASI's specific focus on torture, the Integration Coordinator stated
that:

... [It was] in 2003 that most of the teachers in the classes discovered that some of
the students were asylum seekers or refugees who lived in the [Direct Provision]
accommodation centres ... and some of the students indicated or told teachers that
they were tortured in their countries of origin. So teachers brought this up at that
stage, that many students needed some kind of therapeutic intervention (Interview 1
July 16, 2014).
SPIRASI now specializes in the care and rehabilitation of torture victims and is the only
service of its type available in Ireland (!Donate, SPIRASI, 2014; Interview 1 July 16,
2014:2; Walsh 2014:4). The services provided for the survivors of torture include: medical
assessments; medico-legal reports; cross-cultural counselling/psychotherapy; psychosocial
and integration support; art psychotherapy; outreach support; complementary therapies;
group psychotherapy; and support groups (Walsh 2014:4). SPIRASI now has a number of
full-time staff members who work alongside volunteers. SPIRASI's staff is multinational,
including both local Irish and immigrants, and is multilingual, which is a major benefit for
SPTRASI's work with immigrants from around the world. The staff positions include
directors, therapists, counselors, priests, nuns, teachers, and other office positions such as
secretaries (Field notes, July-August 2014).
Currently SPIRASI's funding comes from three main sources. SPIRASI continues
to receive its main financia l support from the Spiritans, including the use of its building
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rent-free. SPIRASI also receives funding from the UN as an endorsement of their work
with torture victims. The third source of funding comes from the Irish state government,
through the Department of Health, for SPRlASI's rehabilitation oftorture victims, and
through the Department of Education for the education classes that they offer (Interview 1
July 16, 2014:5).
The government funding is obligatory because the Irish State signed the United
Nations agreement to protect the vulnerable populations of asylum seekers and refugees
(Interview 1 July 16, 2014:5-6). Because SPIRASI receives funding from these two
departments, its services must follow the departments' guidelines and policies. For
example, SPIRASI provides educational classes that are Quality and Qualifications Ireland
(QQI) 20 accredited (SPIRASI, Education, 20 15).
Despite its focus on integration for asylum seekers and refugees SPIRASI does not
receive funding from the OPMI. Thus the OPMI, which functions to create and uphold
integration policy and structures, does not actually have any direct influence on the services
and programs SPIRASI provides to its clients. Instead, SPIRASI is influenced by the
department-specific integration strategies created in both the Department of Health and the
Department of Education. Unfortunately, these strategies functioned for a limited time and
have not been revised or re-implemented (Field notes, July 28, 2014).
ln the following section, I illustrate how SPIRASI's services work towards refugee
integration. I do this by discussing SPIRASJ's services of education, advocacy, and
providing physical and ideological space for integration. Following these discussions, I

20 As discussed in the introduction, FET AC is still used locally to describe Ireland 's accreditation system.

The name of the program has since changed Quality and Qualifications Ireland (QQI), which now governs
Further Education and Training (FET) programmes.

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present some of the challenges that SPIRASI faces in providing integration services to
refugees.

5.3.2 SPIRASI's Services: Rehabilitation and Integration
SPIRASI uses a double approach of rehabilitation and integration in their services
for asylum seekers and refugees. Treatment for victims of torture includes a combination
of a number of different services that seeks to recuperate the individual in a holistic
fashion, including physically, mentally, and spiritually. The therapy connects to the
integration aspect of the NGO, as integration and education are seen as one of the building
blocks used in rehabilitation (Interview 1 July 16, 2014: 12). While clients go through the
treatment process through therapy and medical attention, many are also students
participating in the different classes available at SPIRASI. This prepares and enables the
individual to enter into and participate in their new community with the skills and tools
they receive during their time at SPIRASI.
SPIRASI' s £ntegration Officer defined integration as a give and take between the
Irish community and the clients. Part of what SPIRASI seeks to teach its clients about
integration is the balance between holding onto their cultural values and traditions and
learning the laws and social norms of their new home community. The Integration Office
further explained this understanding of integration, stating:
Integration is a two way thing ... So the kind of integration we will talk about is
different from assimilation. We hope that when you come into Ireland you keep
your values, you keep your culture, keep your religion, keep your beliefs. You
should be free to do all of that. But then you should be aware also of the laws of this
country, you should be aware of the respect for human rights, you should be aware
of respect for one another, respect for people's religion, respect for people's
sexuality, respect all those things that in most of their countries would be taboo
topics. We have to make sure that they understand that yes you have come to a
different society, you keep your religion, you can keep certain things, but provided
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you are respecting other people' s things also. And that' s you integrating into that
society (Interview 1 July 16, 2014:3).
This understanding of integration shows how the lived experience of integration can be
difficult to navigate as it requires give and take by both the individual integrating and the
community receiving the individual. Unlike the government's understanding as discussed
in chapter 4, SPIRASI's focus on integration centres around the development of
community and sense of belonging. Neither party is left unchanged by the interaction. As
the following discussions will present, SPIRASI seeks to empower its clients so that they
are able to connect with their neighbours and local community. It also provides a safe
place for some initial interactions to occur between them. Although SPIRASI's target
group is asylum seekers and refugees, it does seek to connect with the local population
through some of its programs, such as the knitting group discussed below, as well as
through different awareness campaigns including hosting the UN International Day in
Support ofVictims ofTorture (SPIRASI, Events, 2015).
5.3.2.1 Education

SPIRASI approaches integration through education and empowerment. SPIRASI
empowers its clients through education by providing services at refugees ' social and
academic levels in order to give them the best chance at integration. SPJRASI's
educational services therefore include both QQI accredited courses, as well as basic or
beginner level classes. For instance, I attended two English Language classes that were
focused on English for everyday speech. These courses were not QQI accredited courses,
but instead focused on teaching the clients how to speak in daily interactions (Field notes,
July 23, 2014). The purpose of these courses are to enable the clients to feel comfortable
speaking to other individuals outside of SPIRASI, including their neighbours, government
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service providers, utility providers, and any other locals they may meet (Interview 1 July
16, 2014:3). These classes also aim to incorporate other social lessons while teaching
conversational English. For example, the two classes I attended used work sheets that
taught about acceptance and what the terms discrimination, racism, and equality mean.
They also provided historical facts on influential people, such as Nelson Mandela (Field
notes, July 23, 2014). Many students do not know the history of racism and discrimination
or what the terms signify, thus the classes are multipurpose in teaching both English and
other important social lessons.
SPIRASI continues to provide many QQI accredited educational courses in
computer skills and English language courses. Education and empowerment are seen as
essential for the integration ofSP IRASI's clients into Irish society, for they give the cl ients
the tools to apply their education to everyday life. Clients at SPIRASI also go on fieldtrips
to museums in Dublin in order to learn about the city's history and their new community.
Other fieldtrips include going to different parks to inform the clients about various
activities they can do with their families outside of their home or the SPIRASI centre
(Interview 1, July 16 2014:4).
5.3.2.2 Advocacy
Another way SPIRASI supports refugee integration is by being an advocate for its
clients at the personal and political levels. In my ethnographic participant observation at
SPIRASI I witnessed workers advocating for their clients in personal everyday instances.
While job shadowing with the receptionists I observed how the front desk functions at the
' front lines of interactions ' with clients (Field notes, July 22, 20 14). In the course of a
regular day the receptionist not only organized the scheduling of the NGO, but also helped

110

clients fill out government forms that included words the clients did not understand and
directed clients or waJk-in individuals to the appropriate government services. The
receptionist also helped clients coordinate services to meet their needs, such as rearranging
therapy sessions so that the client could attend language courses (Field notes, July 23,
2014; Field notes, August 5, 2014).
SPIRASI also advocates for its clients at the political level. As the only
organization to provide specialized services for victims of torture, SPIRASI is a vocal
advocate for developing appropriate services to help these individuals with rehabilitation.

In my participant observation I was able to attend the consultative meeting between
SPIRASI and the Cross-Departmental Group. In this meeting the Director of SPIRASI
presented information about how Direct Provision was ampl ifying refugees' experiences of
torture by not providing physical and mental health screening sooner to identify those who
had been tortured (Field notes, July 28, 2014). This adversely affects the individuals '
ability to integrate after gaining refugee status as they have not received the services they
need while in Direct Provision. But they must first overcome their trauma before they can
become functioning members of society. SPIRASI therefore argued that services and
programs need to include both legal categories in order to help with the transition from
being an asylum seeker to an integrated refugee.
5.3.2.3 Physical and Ideological Space for Integration
In addition to education and advocacy, SPIRASI further supports refugee

integration by providing the physical and ideological spaces for integration to occur. As
mentioned in chapter 2, physical space relates to the physical geography of where
integration takes place. At SPIRASI, this included the classrooms and the coffee room.

Ill

Space is also shaped by ideologies, such as exclusion and inclusion. SPIRASI provides the
ideological space for integration by facilitating social contexts where refugees are able to
integrate and become part of a community. SPIRASI further creates ideological space for
the local community to integrate and accept refugees, which is not always socially
permissible outside of the NGO setting. I observed this in various circumstances and
events at SPIRASI. Many of these events illustrated Putnam's theory of bridging social
capital across different ethnicities (see chapter 2) as individuals were able to connect and
create a sense of community within the safe space of SPIRASI.
One place I observed this sense of community was in the classroom setting. In the
classes I attended there were students from around the world, including: various African21
countries; India; Iran; Afghanistan; Poland; and Vietnam (Field notes, July23 , 2014). This
class was targeted at SPIRASI's clientele, asylum seekers and refugees, though there were
some other migrants who attended as well. In the classes students would help each other
with the worksheets and would go over the answers together. In the second class I
attended, a previous student who had completed the course the year before came back to
visit and stayed to help the current students practice English (Field notes, July 30, 2014).

I further observed the sense of community in the classroom as students celebrated
religious holidays together. At the beginning of the second class, only 5 students were
present. Over the course of the hour many students came and went in order to attend the
Muslim celebration ofEid ul-Fitr and the ending of Ramadan (Field notes, July 30, 2014).
In SPIRASI's classroom setting, this form of attendance was accepted and many non-

21

These individuals were identified as ' African. ' Their specific country of origin was not identified.

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Muslim students wished their classmates an enjoyable celebration. They also helped their
Muslim classmates catch up on school work when they returned from the festivities.
I experienced the sense of community present at SPIRASI in other situations as
well. Each time I went to SPIRASI I would make myself tea in the coffee room. The
coffee room is open to both the staff and the clients and there would often be snacks or
lunch items for everyone to share. This space facilitated interactions between people as we
would all sit at the same table to eat and drink together. Through these interactions I
witnessed how a sense of integrated community was developed and maintained amongst
the clients, as well as with the workers at SPIRASI.
The coffee room was also the space where SPIRASI advertises different activities
for the clients. These activities are important as they are meant to encourage social
experiences between the clients and the local community in order to create a sense of
familiarity and belonging for the clients. One event SPIRASI hosts is a knitting club where
local Irish women come to the centre and knit with asylum seeker and refugee women
(Interview 1, July 16, 2014:4). Other activities include presentations from the Garda at
SPIRASI, where the clients learn about local laws and the services the Garda supply to the
community. The purpose of these presentations are two-fold: for the clients to learn Irish
laws and become more comfortable around police; and for the Garda to learn about
appropriate ways of interacting with ethnic minorities, especially refugees and torture
victims. These types of social events facilitate integration by giving clients positive
interactions with the police, as many of the clients may be fearful of police due to past
experiences in their countries of origin. The events also initiate integration for the host

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community by creating a greater understanding of refugees on a personal level and how a
refugee's history may affect the way they interact with locals.
5.3.3 Challenges
Like other NGOs, SPIRASI does face some challenges in providing services to
refugees. One challenge is the ability to teach English to a group of individuals from
around the world. As mentioned earlier, in the two English language class I attended there
were clients from multiple countries. It was a conversational English-language class and
yet the teacher had to rely on English to communicate with the majority of her students,
even with teacher's ability to speak three languages. After the class the teacher expressed
to me how difficult lessons can be for the clients, as some of the refugees have never had
any other form of schooling and therefore do not have the ability to connect the English
grammar to their own language (Field notes, July 23, 2014).
Another area that SPIRASI and many other NGOs struggle with is the shortage of
funding, which restricts the services NGOs are able to provide. For example, many of the
students from the lessons I attended wanted to register for September 2015 Fall English
courses, however the receptionist told them that they would most likely not get into the
course until September 2016 (Field notes, July 30, 2014). The clients still wanted to
register even with the delay because, as I discussed earlier, these classes represent an
important social interaction. The classes are a safe space where students can experience a
sense of community and familiarity with other individuals while they learn English (Field
notes, July 23 , 2014). One result of this comfort and community is that many students will
refuse to advance to higher-level courses and are content to remain in the same class for
multiple years. This restricts an already limited space allowance for students wanting to

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take the courses (Field notes, July 23 , 2014). Meeting the educational needs of refugees is
therefore a more complex issue than simply providing more classes.
As this case study of SP[RASI shows, NGOs are influential in refugees' initial
integration into Dublin and Ireland. NGOs must balance between complying with
government regulations, such as education or health guidelines, but must also meet the
identified needs of their clients. NGOs such as SPIRASI therefore play an important
mediating role in Ireland and provide valuabl e information on refugees' integration.

5.4 Refugees' Integration Experience
Following on the previous discussion concerning the role NGOs play in refugee
integration, I now examine how refugees themselves understand their experience of
integration in Ireland. This includes refugees' own agency in facilitating their sense of
identity and place in their new home country. Grounding the discussion in integration
theory, exploring refugees ' understanding of integration takes into account their sense of
belonging, identity, and emotional connection to both their country of origin and their new
community (Kyml icka 1998:49,53; Lovell2003:4; Modood 2013: 147; Parekh 2009:40;
Smith 2009:89). This understanding of integration is more subjective and can vary
between people, or even between one individual 's experiences and feelings. Many of these
experiences of integration can begin even before individuals have formal refugee status,
when they are still legally "asylum seekers" (Interview, July 16, 20 14:8; UNHCR
2013:57).
I draw on various data sets in order to explore refugees' lived experience of
integration. One data set is my own primary research that I conducted at SPIRASI. As
mentioned earlier, I spent time with refugees in both the classroom and in public spaces at

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SPIRASI. I was able to talk with refugees about their integration experiences by making
personal connections with them. I also learned about refugees' lived experience of
integration in the interviews I conducted with SPIRASI's workers, who relayed to me what
factors refugees have identified are important for integration. I supplemented my primary
research with two independent research papers that include excerpts from interviews with
refugees in Ireland conducted within the past three years. As mentioned in chapter 3, one
of these independent studies was conducted by UNHCR in December 2013 (UNHCR
2013). The other study was conducted at SPIRASI by a third-party independent researcher,
Kathy Walsh, who explored the needs of refugees and asylum seekers in Ireland who have
been tortured (Walsh 2014). By collating these different data sets together, I have been
able to identify common themes in how refugees' perceive their own integration. These
themes include creating a sense of community, legal status, education and employment,
and suitable housing.
5.4.1 Sense of Community
An important aspect of integration is an individual's sense of belonging, identity,
and emotional connection to their new community (Kymlicka 1998:49,53; Lovell 2003:4;
Modood 2013: 147; Parekh 2009:40). As an individual becomes more connected to their
new community their social capital increases, creating stronger social networks and
trustworthiness between the integrating individual and the new community (Putnam
2000: 19). The importance of creating a sense of community and belonging was very
prevalent in how refugees' experienced and understood their integration and is a theme that
is often connected to the other integration identifiers.

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In my own primary research and in Walsh ' s interviews with clients from SPIRASI,
refugees referenced different experiences as examples that they were integrating into and
creating a sense of community and belonging in Ireland. Some refugees referenced a
connection to a church or faith-based group (Field notes, August 4, 2014; Walsh 2014:32).
By attending a local church, refugees were integrating into their local community by
bonding with fellow believers and bridging across ethnic diversity. As I experienced in
Ireland, religion is often one of the first topics refugees will talk about with someone new
as it is important to how they identify themselves and to how they connect with other
people, including people of different faith backgrounds (Field notes, July 23, 2014; Field
notes, August 4, 2014).
Being at school with classmates is another informal setting that was important to
refugees' sense of community and integration (Walsh 2014:32). It facilitates social
interactions between refugees and the local community and increases refugees' social
networks. Many refugees reference informal events as evidence that they are integrating
because the events are clearly demarcated times when refugees were in direct social contact
with the local population (Walsh 2014:32).
Other refugees identified their ability to speak English and have local Irish friends
as important to their sense of community and belonging (Walsh 20 14:32). As will be
discussed in the theme of education and employment, not being able to speak the local
language can impede an individual ' s ability to integrate (UNHCR 2013:49). Friendships
with local Irish are also important for refugees' integration as friendships are social
networks refugees can rely on if they are in difficult situations (UNHCR 2013:43; Walsh

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2014:33). As Putnam would argue, these social networks are evidence of refugees'
increasing social bonds and social capital (Putnam 2000:27).
5.4.2 Legal Status
The legal status of refugees is very influential in their experience of integration.
For the Irish government, the legal separation between asylum seekers and refugees is a
way to categorize who has a legal right to live in Ireland and who does not. However, for
the individuals, legal status is used to create a sense of security and identity. The legal
status of "asylum seeker" creates a sense of unease and unsettlement for many individuals
as they are often moved between centres with short notice and never know when their
application for refugee status will be determined and if they might be sent back to their
home country (Walsh 2014:29). This makes it difficult for asylum seekers to create a sense
of place and belonging within Ireland. This experience of unease has long-term effects on
refugees ' integration in part because of Ireland ' s slow processing time of refugee
applications. In their 'Note on the Integration of Refugees in the European Union',
UNHCR stated that:
By the time of recognition, refugees may have been in their host countries for
prolonged periods, sometimes for many years, awaiting the outcome of their asylum
claims. During this time they will have gathered experiences and impressions of the
host community which may or may not enhance their prospects of successful
integration. Being admitted to an asylum procedure does not mark the end of
insecurity: factors such as homelessness, life in a reception or detention centre,
isolation and separation from family, restrictions on the right to work, dependency
on in-kind benefits, and the stigma often associated with being an asylum-seeker
can have lasting and debilitating effects on asylum-seekers, compelling them to
conduct their lives on the margins of society. Nor does recognition automatically
mean a return to normality; it may be difficult for both the refugee and the host
community to begin anew (UNHCR 2007:3).
Therefore, gaining refugee status is an important event for refugees in creating their sense
ofbelonging in Ireland (UNHCR 2013:41; Walsh 2014:22).
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However, as the quote from UNHCR indicates, receiving refugee status does not
mean that refugees will automatically be integrated. Many refugees are still unsure what
legal rights they are entitled to and remain insecure in their legal position, especially if they
are applying for citizenship rights. In an interview conducted by UNHCR, one refugee
described what it was like to be a refugee: " You feel like a baby in the womb, you could be
terminated or you could be born ... you ' re afraid of everything, ... no one explains, between
people you hear things ... I didn 't know my rights" (UNHCR 2013:53). There exists a
strong discrimination of refugees in Ireland: they are often perceived by the Irish people as
being non-skilled and a drain on the economy and welfare resources. In order to avoid this
stigmatization, many refugees will not use government services that they are legally
entitled to receive and will instead seek help elsewhere, such as NGOs (Field notes, July
28, 2014; Interview 1, July 16, 2014:8; UNHCR 2013:51, 61). However, studies show that
given the proper support refugees can become valuable contributors to their new society
(Cortes 2004:478). Refugees are often more committed than other migrants to succeeding,
both socially and economically, in their new country and often enter the country as already
highly skilled and trained individuals. This motivation may stem from the fact that many
refugees do not have the same option as other migrants to return home (Cortes 2004:465;
UNHCR 2007 :5). The importance of refugees' training and skills is further discussed in
the next section.
5.4.3 Education and Employment
Refugees often explain that being able to work and earn their own income is very
important to them as it increases their sense of independence and integration (Walsh
2014:32). Employment increases refugees' integration as it provides them with a context

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to socially and physically interact with their new community as contributing members of
society. Employment provides an avenue for integration in day to day living and helps
bridge the social distance between refugees and the local population (Interview 1, July 16,
2014:5). This increases refugees' social capital and strengthens the social bonds between
refugees and the local community (Putnam 2000: 18). This, in turn, increases refugees'
personal sense of integration as they start to participate in everyday life and create a sense
ofbelonging and obligation to the community (Modood 2013:147; Parekh 2009:42).
However, there are many struggles refugees face in gaining employment. As
refugees often spend multiple years in Direct Provision, they do not have recent work
experiences or references to provide to a potential employer (UNHCR 2013:48). Refugees
are also at a unique disadvantage compared to other minority groups as they often have to
leave their country of origin very quickly and are leaving dangerous political environments.
Many refugees therefore do not have access to legal documents or paperwork that support
their credentials, nor do they have the ability to send for them once in Ireland because of
the volatile state of their home country (UNHCR 2007:7; UNHCR 2013:50; Walsh
2014:29). NGOs have found that a large portion of refugees are working below their
training level and that doctors, teachers, and other highly trained individuals are working in
minimum wage jobs (The Integration Centre 2014: 13; UNHCR 2013:46).
Working at a lower skill level also has personal impacts on refugees. In my
conversations with the staff at SPIRASI, many commented that when refugees are kept
from working at their vocation, there are emotional and psychological effects (Field notes,
July 23, 2014). When refugees are unable to work in the jobs they have been trained for, it
takes away a layer of their identity and purpose. In an UNHCR interview, one refugee

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described being kept from work in this way: " If you ' re a professional and you have to do
something else, it' s heavy on your soul. .. your profession is half of who you are" (UNCHR
2013:46). Workers at SPIRASI provided examples where once a client was able to do the
work they were trained for, the client would become more animated and responsive to
therapy and to other individuals (Field notes, July 23 , 2014). SPIRASI's Integration
Officer described this effect as empowering individuals to do their life ' s work so that they
in tum can empower others (Field notes, July 23 , 2014). This illustrates that successful
integration is strongly affected by the ability of refugees to work in their own profession.
Two concerns connected to refugees ' ability to find employment are educational
and language barriers. Some refugees do not have the training or education that is needed
to work in higher-skilled job positions in Ireland. Other refugees may need to become
accredited in Ireland to work in their profession and/or need to increase their English
proficiency, as there is a strong correlation between speaking English fluently and being
able to fmd employment (UNHCR 2013:49). Studies show that refugees tend to invest
more into their education than other foreign-born residents as they do not have the same
option of leaving and therefore have a greater need to integrate and create a sense of
belonging (Cortes 2004:466, 478).
Barriers to adequate training and language are connected to refugees' previous legal
status as asylum seekers. Asylum seekers in Direct Provision are not allowed to work and
only have access to certain lower levels of education (Interview 1, July 16, 2014:5). The
only courses available to asylum seekers are language and computer courses. In Ireland,
asylum seekers are not able to take any vocational or accreditation training (Smith 2008:67,
2009:96). This means that in their initial years in Ireland, asylum seekers are not able to

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gain the training and education they will need to get a job once they have gained refugee
status. Asylum seekers who do take courses while in Direct Provision also struggle, as
they do not know when their application will be processed. Some, therefore, have been
granted refugee status while in the midst of taking a course. The individual then has to
choose if they will continue to take the course with no source of income, or if they will
drop out of the course to find work with the potential that they will not have enough
training or adequate language proficiency to find a job (UNHCR 2013:48).
Refugee children have different experiences from adult refugees, as children attend
local grade schools even when living in Direct Provision as asylum seekers (UNHCR
2013:27). Refugee children tend to integrate faster than their parents as they are more
adaptable and are interacting physically and socially with local children and adults at
school, while many refugee parents may fmd leaving the house alone or interacting with
locals too daunting during the initial time after Direct Provision (Interview 1, July 16,
20 14:9). These social interactions allow for a faster integration for refugee children.
These different experiences also come with a unique set of difficulties. Many
refugee children struggle with schooling because of a language barrier that exists.
Language support is not consistent across Ireland and varies on a school by school basis
(Children's Rights Alliance 20 14:6; NYCI 2014: 12; The Integration Centre 2014: 17).
Therefore, refugee children have a more difficult time both academically and socially in
schools with limited language supports. Surveys indicate that children who do not speak
English, including both refugee and other migrant children, are more likely to be bullied
and twice as likely to be excluded from games or have something stolen from them (CIB
2014:3; The Integration Centre 2014:17-18).

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During my interview with an Irish-Canadian university student, he spoke of his own
experiences growing up in the school system in Dublin and how cultural and linguistic
difference was dealt with in the classroom. Reflecting on his and his sister's experience of
having a large number of Bosnian and Serbian Muslim refugees enter their classes during
the Bosnian-Yugoslavia wars, he commented that:
Nobody explained ... that this person is of a different faith or this is what their belief
system is, or that this is actually a very popular belief system, it's just [a] different
[one] than yours. It 's just ' no, no, she's not one of us.' This isn' t too long ago, this
is like 1998 (Interview 4 August 5, 20 14:6).
This student also spoke of how faith and belief systems limited integration in the public
schools. In Ireland the public schools that have free admittance are Catholic schools. If a
family wishes their children to attend a non-denominational school they must pay to enrol
their children in one of the few primary schools run by the Educated Together Program
(Interview 4 August 5 2014:6; Field notes, August 4, 2014). Research shows that using
religion as a factor in admittance has negative effects on minority faith communities and
works against integration by creating a segregated school environment (The Integration
Centre 20 14: 17). Therefore, although education and school can help increase integration by
having children interact with one another, there are still a number of barriers that refugee
children experience.

5.4.4 Housing
Housing is yet another important indicator of integration for refugees. In order to
start integrating on other, more social, levels, refugees' basic needs such as housing must
first be met. Having a house also provides a physical location with which refugees can
identify in their new community and is oftentimes their first place of social interaction with
locals as they get to know their neighbours. Learning to trust and befriend neighbours is
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very important for refugees to create a common identity and sense of belonging in their
new home. Events such as barbeques, block parties, or children befriending each other are
informal ways that refugees can start to integrate into the community (Field notes, July 16,
2014; Interview 1, July 16, 2014:7-8).
Unfortunately, finding housing can be just as challenging for many refugees as
getting a job. While in Direct Provision, asylum seekers are provided with housing and are
not allowed to work. Therefore, suddenly becoming responsible for both of these things
after being granted refugee status can be very daunting. Similar to refugees' circumstances
of finding employment, refugees do not have any housing references to give to their
potential landlords. When refugees do fmd housing many struggle with the monthly bills,
as both their housing and other amenities were provided for in Direct Provision (Smith
2009: 101; Field notes, July 22, 20 14). T he staff at SPIRASI spoke of cases where refugees
were unaware of utilities costs and had their water and electricity turned off because of lack
of payment (Field notes, July 22, 2014).
The DCC local government does provide social housing through the Council's
Housing Allocation Scheme (DCC, Apply for a Council Home, 20 15). However, there is a
severe lack of social housing available through the DCC and refugees must often rely on
the private market (Crosscare 2014: 10; MRCI 20 14:9; UNHCR 2013:42). If a refugee or
refugee family has to find housing through the private market they can apply for subsidized
housing through the State Government Department of Social Protection or through the
DCC local government Rental Accommodation Scheme, both of which will cover the cost
of the rent. However, this can be problematic as rent determination is in the hands of the
landlord and renting costs in the private market often exceed the amount available to

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individuals who apply for subsidized housing (Tralee International Resource Centre
20 14:6; UNHCR 20 13 :42). In these cases rent may be subsidized for a short period of time;
however, many feel that the rental caps provided by both the state and the DCC are not
high enough for the current market (Crosscare 2014: 10; MRCI 20 14:9; Tralee International
Resource Centre 20 14:6). Although problems in acquiring social housing are prevalent for
all Irish, refugees face further discrimination in finding alternative housing options, as is
discussed below.
The result is that some refugees end up homeless or living in substandard housing.
Many refugees face racial discrimination from landlords who often work under the
assumption that refugees will not mind living in any condition because of the very fact that
they are refugees. Refugees living in these substandard living accommodations often will
not complain to the appropriate authorities, such as the Garda or the government
departments, because they are afraid of jeopardizing their citizenship application and/or are
afraid to approach the authorities (UNHCR 2013:42-43). This echoes the earlier discussion
of refugee legal status and not understanding their rights and entitlements.
In response to these situations some refugees rely on informal social networks that
they previously created, both within the newcomer community and in their social ties to the
local community. Refugees may seek out housing help from fellow refugees, local
churches or community groups, local Irish friends, or NGOs (UNHCR 2013 :43; Walsh
20 14:33). These informal networks provide support in such a way that refugees are able to
not only deal with their housing situations, but also strengthen their social and community
bonds. As stated by Putnam in social capital theory, social networks have value and serve
to reinforce the norms of reciprocity and trustworthiness between people (Putnam 2000:19,

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36). Therefore, when refugees are able to acquire suitable housing in a welcoming
neighbourhood many refugees considered it a very important indicator that they are now
able to integrate with their new community.
As shown by these discussions, refugees are active agents in their own integration
in Ireland. Although they face many unique challenges, refugees can be valuable and
active members in their society with much to offer their new community. However, what
many require is the initial proper supports to enable them to fulfill their potential. When
these services are not provided or are harder to access it has negative consequences for
refugees' ability to integrate and to become socially, economically, and legally contributing
members in their society.

5.5 Conclusion
This chapter focused on the lived experience of refugee integration and represents
the bottom-up approach of my analysis. In this chapter I argued that refugee integration
does take place in Ireland and that it occurs in the services provided by NGOs and through
refugees' own agency. Integration and multicultural theorists, such as Kymlicka (1998:26)
and Modood (20 13: 146), state that the physical manifestations of integration focus on the
inclusion of individuals at the state and public level, and create the physical and ideological
spaces that allow for the integration of ' different' individuals. I argue that in Ireland NGOs
fulfill much of the service required to make possible the physical manifestations of
integration for refugees. NGOs assist with employment, education, housing; provide help
to access the citizenship process; and fill many of the gaps that exist in goverrunent
services.

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As stated in chapter 2, integration also occurs at the personal level and includes an
individual ' s sense of belonging, identity, and connection to the community (Kyml icka
1998:49; Lovell2003:4; Modood 2013:147; Parekh 2009:40). Refugees ' understanding of
their integration is more subjective and is based on their lived experience in Ireland, both as
an asylum seeker and as a refugee. As was presented in this chapter, refugees use
examples from their own experiences to show when and how they feel they are integrated
and what they feel is necessary for successful integration.
Integration as a two way process recognizes that when refugees enter and integrate
into Ireland both parties are changed. As mentioned in chapter 1, this started to occur in
Ireland when refugees ftrst began arriving in large numbers at the start of the Celtic Tiger
in the mid-1990s. As was discussed in migration theory in chapter 2, the migration of large
groups of people facilitates rapid social transformation (Castles 20 10: 1576). In Ireland,
this took form with the rapid establishment ofNGOs and the dramatic increase in ethnic
diversity from immigration. These events have since caused social and cultural changes in
Ireland.
I have applied social capital theory (see chapter 2) to examine and understand the
effects of ethnic diversity on Irish communities. Putnam ' s theory of bonding and bridging
social capital is pertinent to refugee integration in Ireland. Some of the local Irish are
experiencing cultural turmoil in response to the increased ethnic diversity in Ireland. The
response for some locals is to bond through their ' lrishness' and to increase their out-group
antagonism, i.e., discrimination and racism towards refu gees. However, Putnam argues
that bonding social capital does not necessarily have to result in out-group discrimination
and racism and can be compatible with bridging social capital (Putnam 2000:23;

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2007: 144). As this chapter shows, there are many instances where both bonding and
bridging social capital exist simultaneously in refugee integration. These include refugees
bonding with the local community through religion or school and bridging across ethnic
diversity. Creating these social ties increases refugees ' integration as it encourages a sense
of belonging and obligation to their new community (Modood 2013: 147; Parekh 2009:42).
Refugees rely on social capital for integration in other ways. This includes utilizing
the social networks they have created to navigate difficult situations, as evidenced in
refugees coming to SPIRASI for help when they experience problems navigating
government agencies. The workers at SPIRASI support refugees by advocating for them to
the government agencies and help refugees obtain the services that they need. By using
their social networks at SPIRASI, refugees are able to achieve results that they may be
otherwise unable to on their own.
As this chapter has shown, refugee integration does occur in Dublin, and by
extension in Ireland. It occurs through the roles ofNGOs and their creation of physical and
ideological spaces of integration. Refugees also are active in their own integration and use
their agency to help facilitate integration in their new community.

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Chapter 6: Conclusion

In this thesis I sought to answer three focused research questions in order to conduct
an analysis of refugee integration in Ireland. These three research questions are I) What
are state policies and structures that might influence refugee integration? 2) What are the
roles of non-government organization (NGO) advocacy groups in refugee integration? 3)
How do refugees themselves understand their experience of integration in their new home
country? In answering these questions, I argued that refugee integration in Ireland is a
complicated negotiation between both positive experiences of integration into parts of a
multicultural/ intercultural society, and negative experiences of racism and discrimination
levied against marginalized and ' different' individuals. This negotiation of refugee
integration is influenced by the government's neoliberal approach to policy and service
implementation and the reliance on NGO advocacy groups.
My ftrst chapter presented the social and historical context of my study. This
included a discussion of why I chose to conduct my research in Ireland and more
specifically in Dublin. As discussed, Ireland presents a unique context due to its specific
economic circumstances and relatively new immigrant history (Batte! 2003:95; Fagan
2002:141; Me Veigh & Len tin 2002: I 9; Smith 2009: 91). As the capital city with an
influential local authority, Dublin presented a strong case study for my thesis. The Irish
state government offices are located in Dublin, as are the DCC local authority offices.
Dublin is also the most common point of entry into the country for asylum seekers and
refugees, and therefore has a high population of both refugees and NGOs who provide
services for refugees. This was beneficial for my analysis as the different sectors of society

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I was interested in for my research are all represented within the geographical context of
Dublin.
In my second chapter, I introduced the interdisciplinary approach I used as my

theoretical framework. My thesis is based in the disciplines of Anthropology and Political
Science and uses a multi-theoretical approach for studying refugees ' integration into
Ireland. These theories include migration theory, integration theory, multicultural theory,
and social capital theory.
Using an interdisciplinary approach grounded in Anthropology and Political
Science was beneficial for my study of refugee integration. I conducted research that exists
in the complementary themes of these two disciplines. My research benefitted from this as
I drew on theories and methods from both disciplines which enabled me to conduct a more
holistic study of refugee integration in Ireland.
Migration theory provided the theoretical base for understanding the movement of
people on a large scale. Castle's discussion of migration theory connects the migration of
people to social transformation. This social transformation initiated by immigration occurs
at a faster rate than the continual process of social evolution that is always at work within a
community (Castles 20 I 0: 1576). Therefore, migration theory provided a theoretical
framework for understanding how refugees· presence in Ireland has initiated social change.
Migration theory also recognizes the impact of migration on individuals (Ager 1999:2) and
was useful in understanding how refugees ' integration is affected by the previous stages in
their immigration, including their reception into Ireland as asylum seekers.
Integration theory was important for providing the theoretical understanding of
integration that I used in my thesis. In my application of integration theory I drew on

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multicultural theory as a mode of integration. Integration theory guided my research in its
focus of social bonds that tie a community together and how individuals from outside of
the community enter into these bonds (Biau 1960:546). integration theory also provided
me with the framework to study the influence of space, both physical and ideological, on
refugee integration.
From integration theory and multicultural theory I conceptualized integration as
occurring on two levels: the state government level and the personal or individual level
(Modood 2013:146). This formed the basis ofmy analysis as it provided a framework
through which I could explore how refugee integration was influenced by various sectors
of society. Multicultural theory includes ethical or moral discussions of integration for
both the local community and the integrating indiv idual (Kymlicka 1998:45; Murphy
2012: 119). I used multiculturalism as a social and political theory of integration to focus
my research on how diversity within a culture can be politically and socially incorporated
through mutual accommodation (Kymlicka 1998:41 ; Modood 2011:190; Murphy 2012:6).
Social capital theory connected well with multicultural theory as it refers to the
social networks or ties that exist between individuals. Social capital theory was useful for
understanding how ethnic diversity affects a community. I used Putnam 's discussion of
bonding and bridging social capital to explore the different responses of the local
community towards 'd ifferent' individuals, as well as how outside indi viduals were able to
build and integrate into social networks with the local community (Putnam 2000:23,
2007: 144). Social capital theory and integration/multicultural theory therefore worked well
together in recognizing that integration involves both the bonded community and the
individuals who are integrating into it.

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My third chapter presented my research methods, which are grounded in feminist
methodology and community based research. These methods included policy analysis and
ethnographic research. Policy analysis allowed me to examine integration policies in
Ireland, including their history and development. This focused on answering my first
research question of: What are state policies and structures that might influence refugee
integration? In my policy analysis I focused on the current state integration policy

Migration Nation (2008) and the DCC local authority policy Towards Integration: A City
Framework (2008). I also conducted a systematic analysis of the submissions sent to the
OPMI as part of the current state integration policy review to identify any key themes
present in the reports. The reports were submitted by a wide range of interest groups and
represent what each group believes to be the strengths and weaknesses of Ireland 's current
state integration policy. These submissions therefore added an interesting component to
my policy analysis.
Ethnographic research provided me with the tools to explore the lived experience of
integration. It focused on gathering data to answer my last two research questions: What
are the roles of non-government organization (NGO) advocacy groups in refugee
integration? How do refugees themselves understand their experience of integration in their
new home country? The ethnographic research tools I used included participant
observation and semi-structured interviews. By conducting ethnographic research at
SPIRASI I was able to accomplish a more in-depth analysis of the lived experience of
integration and use SPIRASI as a case study to frame my discussion of the role ofNGOs in
refugee integration. My connection with SPIRASI also allowed me to connect informally

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with refugees and provided me with valuable information on how refugees understand and
experience integration.
In chapter 4, I conducted the top-down analysis of my research exploring refugee
integration in Ireland. In the first part of the chapter I provided the context of Irish
integration policies and structures. This included summarizing the Irish government
structure and how it governs the creation, implementation, and review of integration
policies. This included both the state government and local authorities. After presenting
the structure of government, I then detailed the history of integration policies in Ireland and
how they evolved over time, including the influence EU integration policies have had in
Ireland. I also discussed the associated integration structures, specifically the current
integration governing body the OPMI. I also discussed the DCC Office for Integration and
its integration policy Towards Integration (2008).
In the second part of chapter 4 I presented my policy analysis. I used the
submissions sent to the OPMI as part of the Irish state government' s current integration
policy review to frame my analysis and identified fo ur common key points. These key
points include: a lack of implementation and monetary investment of integration policies
and structures; the need for the Irish government's responsibi lities to be transparent to the
public; the need for a stronger relationshjp between the government and NGOs, including
better sharing of information; and criticism of the Direct Provision Accommodation
system.
In my policy analysis I argued that there is reason to believe that Irish government
integration policies and structures may be negatively impacting refugee integration through
unintentional burdens. Migration Nation (2008) was published with a weak action plan for

133

policy implementation and the new governing bodies it did suggest were not established

.

due to Ireland' s economic co llapse and the reduction in government spending for social
welfare programs (Smith et al. 20 14:4). This resulted in the continual lack of adequate
services for refugees, despite the fact that ethnic diversity in Ireland continues to increase
from immigration. These unintentional burdens, though not specifically racist, would have
negative consequences for refugees and their integration in Ireland. One area that could be
argued to directly hinder refugee integration is Direct Provision and the negative
experiences refugees have had in Ireland as asylum seekers.
Chapter 5 was the second analysis chapter of my thesis and represented the bottomup approach in my study. In this chapter, I discussed the lived experience of refugee
integration and how integration takes place in the services provided by NGOs and through
refu gees ' own agency. I first presented the roles ofNGOs in refugee integration and some
of the challenges that NGOs face in their service provision. NGOs provide a number of
essential services for refugees. This is due to the large numbers ofNGOs that developed in
the mid 1990s in response to the rapid increase in immigration, including that of asylum
seekers and refugees (McVeigh & Lentin 2002:19; Smith 2009: 91 ). The Irish government
was ill prepared to deal with such large numbers of migrants as Ireland had previously been
mainly a country of emigration. Instead of creating its own services, the Irish state
government provided funding to NGOs for the programs they had already developed fo r
the migrants (Cullen 2009: l 02). The state continues to rely on NGOs to provide essential
services; however, as mentioned in chapter 5, this is problematic for NGOs ' continual
service provision for refugees as the government only supplies short-term funding (3 to 4
years) (Field notes July 24, 20 14).

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NGOs that function as advocates for asylum seekers and refugees provide a wide
range of services, including: legal aid; housing; employment; education; health services;
and centres for cultural events. These NGOs view asylum seekers and refugees as the same
community at different legal stages and advocate for services that span both legal
categories. This is important, as it recognizes refugees' prev ious experiences in Ireland as
asylum seekers in Direct Provision and the negative impact that this has on refugees'
ability to integrate. Many NGOs are very critical of the Direct Provision Accommodation
System and are public advocates for ending the program.
NGOs are active participants in the Irish state government's current integration
policy review. Many of the reports sent in response to the OPMl's Call for Submissions
came from NGOs. These are the submissions I used to frame my policy analysis in chapter
4, as the reports summari ze NGOs' views on Ireland 's integration policy and what they
argue needs to be addressed in the new policy.
I used a case study in chapter 5 to illustrate the roles ofNGOs in refugee
integration. The case study is based on my ethnographic participant observation and the
interviews l conducted at SPIRASJ. In the case study 1 discussed SPIRASI 's services of
education and advocacy and how this organization provides the physical and ideological
space for refugees' integration. I used examples from my primary research to illustrate
how each service helps to facilitate refugees' integration. These examples included my
experience of attending two English Language classes as well as the time I spent job
shadowing at SPIRASI. In these sections I argued that NGOs play a mediating role in
refugee integration and that NGOs fulfill much of the service required to make possible the
physical manifestations of integration for refugees.

135

Following this discussion, I examined how refugees themselves understand their
experience of integration in Ireland and how refugees are active agents in their own
integration process. I explored how integration occurs at the personal level and how this
understanding is more subjective. I found that refugees use examples from their
experiences in Ireland, both as asylum seekers and refugees, as markers of when they feel
integrated. These markers include: sense of community; legal status; education and
employment; and suitable housing. The theory of social capital and Putnam' s discussion of
bonding versus bridging social capital is important to understanding refugees' lived
experience of integration (Putnam 2000:23; 2007: 144). In Ireland, refugees bond with the
local community through social networks such as religion or school and bridge across
ethnic diversity. As I observed at SPIRASI, NGOs often help facilitate these experiences
by providing positive opportunities for refugees to interact with the local community, such
as the knitting group with local women or presentations by the Garda, and to strengthen
social ties, both amongst refugees and with the greater community. These social ties
increase refugees' integration as it creates a sense of belonging and obligation to refugees'
new community (Modood 2013:147; Parekh 2009:42).
In this thesis, I argued that refugee integration does occur in Dublin. Refugee
integration takes place in the physical and ideological spaces of integration created by
NGOs that help to facilitate refugees ' social networks. Integration also occurs through
refugees own active participation in their own integration process. To its credit, the Irish
government has recently taken steps to further develop its integration strategies by
conducting the current integration policy review and has been involved in the funding of
local NGOs and public events that support refugee integration.

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6.1 Research Dissemination
The dissemination process of my research will be guided by feminist methodology
and community based research. Thus, the findings will be disseminated in an accessible
means to ensure that the research community maintains a connection to the research and
that the research is useful to them (Lugones & Spelman 2013:21-22; Stoecker 2003:36).
Throughout the research process I have maintained contact with SPIRASI and followed the
development of their services for refugees. As my case study, SPIRASI is a stakeholder in
my thesis and has provided me with many opportunities that facilitated the development of
my research. Therefore, an important aspect of my thesis dissemination is ensuring that the
research information is available and useful to SPIRASI. This includes providing SPIRASI
with a completed copy of my thesis. This information is useful and applicable for
SPIRASI as it informs them about the relationships and interactions between the
government and NGOs, as well as between NGOs and refugees. This is valuable as it can
inform further service program development, as well has help identify areas where the
understanding of integration may vary. The research dissemination further includes
helping SPIRASI as needed in making the research information more accessible to their
cl ients and their organizational networks, such as other NGOs or government services.
This could involve writing a short summary description of the findings to be posted on
their Publications webpage (SPIRASI, Publications from SPIRASI and Other Relevant
Publications, 2015).
As part of an accessible dissemination process, I hope to write media publications,
such as articles for the Metro Eireann newspaper, which present the research information to
the general public. This raises awareness of the research and the questions of social

137

interactions that it explores. Other dissemination processes I plan to include are public
presentations at conferences and/or other public events. For example, I could present at the
Canadian Anthropology Society (CASCA) conferences or more locally at public awareness
events. This is important, as it informs the communities of what research was conducted
and encourages more informed discussions around the research topics of integration and
multiculturalism of marginalized groups, both specifically within Ireland and in the greater
global context.
I already began the dissemination process by presenting my thesis proposal at the
Graduate Conference at the University ofNorthem British Columbia (UNBC) in 2013.
During this conference I presented to other graduate students and university professors in a
session group focusing on the themes of place and justice. This allowed for crossdiscussions on areas of similar themes. I also presented aspects of my field research and
analysis to two f1rst year classes at UNBC in the Fall semesters of2014 and 2015. These
talks allowed the undergraduate students to engage with the topic and faci litated
discussions on refugee integration in Ireland and how this can be related to the local
context of Prince George, BC.
My research topic applies to a wide range of scholarly interests. I am adding to the
research discussions focusing on marginalized groups, integration studies, the influence of
policy, and topics of multiculturalism and interculturalism. My goals for this research were
to create a better understanding of the process and experiences of refugee integration in the
hope of contributing to a dialogue amongst communities to facilitate healthier community
living and interaction.

138

6.2 Relevancy to the Global Context and the Transferability of the Research
This thesis has been completed at a time when refugees have been seen as part of a
'global crisis.' How countries and local communities can successfully receive and
integrate refugees is currently a global conversation. Included in this conversation are
debates about the global community"s ethical responsibil ity, as well as the human rights of
displaced and marginalized people. It is necessary to question and critically engage with
these difficult discussions of the roles and responsibilities of the global society, especially
when racism, injustice, and the focus on what separates 'Us' from 'Them' has risen in
popularity in the public and social media. My hope is that this thesis and the arguments it
presents will encourage more positive discussions and critical thinking, both within the
academic sphere and the general public.
As stated earlier, I chose to conduct my research in Ireland as it presents a strong
case study for examining refugee integration. Other multicultural and/or multi-ethnic
countries, such as Britain, Canada, or the United States, have longer histories than Ireland
of navigating large-scale immjgration and ethnic diversity. By using the geographical
context of Ireland, I was able to examine and explore refugee integration in a country that
is in the relatively early stages of creating and revising its government integration policies
and structures, which began to develop in response to the dramatic increase in immjgration
that started in the mid-1990s. The local population of Ireland is also in the relatively early
stages of re-creating and revising its national and cultural identity as more migrants and
refugees gain citizenship. Ireland therefore presented a strong case study for my research.
Many of the themes and discussions presented in this thesis can be applied to other
locations as well. As the world becomes a socially smaller place through the increased

139

physical movement of people and the increasing connection amongst people through online
social media, the discussion of social and community integration becomes extremely
relevant (Lentin & McVeigh 2006:21). The understanding of two way integration between
the local community and the newcomers is transferrable to other locations experiencing the
entrance of diverse 'others.'
One theme that is transferrable is the willingness of the local community to accept
refugees and to participate in the integration process. Although communities' social and
historical contexts may vary, the need for the locally bounded community to make physical
and ideological space for refugees to integrate remains the same (KymJicka 1998:45-46;
Murphy 2012: 119; Parekh 2009:47). Therefore, I contend that many of the findings of my
thesis may be used in other global settings. These fmdings include the importance of
providing services that meet refugees' basic physical needs, as described in multicultural
theory, in order to support refugees' emotional and social integration (Kymlicka 1998: 19;
Modood 2013: 146; Parekh 2009:44-45). It also includes the discussion about how
communities that facilitate and support refugee integration end up benefiting and becoming
stronger socially and economically (Fanning 2011 :49; Putnam 2007: 137). Communities
must be aware of ethnic discrimination and/or racism and develop locally appropriate tools
to address it. This may include developing educational programs or social places that
encourage interactions between the local community and newcomers in order to break
down socially created barriers of difference. In Dublin, places of interactions included:
libraries, NGO centres; religious centres; and schools, all ofwhich encouraged social
interactions between newcomers and the local population. Having places of interactions

140

provides people the opportunity to build bridging social networks that create a greater
sense of community.
Part of a community's facilitation of refugee integration depends on community
integration being appropriately supported by government integration policies and structures
(Murphy 20 12:6). The policy analysis I conducted illustrates how government policies can
influence refugee integration and the negative effects this can have on NGO and refugee
participation in integration. The recognition of the social webs that exist between different
sectors of the community is important globally. Drawing on the model I used in this thesis,
studies of other locations can be conducted to address refugee integration in other places.
The personal and lived experience of integration discussed in this thesis is also
applicable to many different geographic contexts, including locally here in Canada. The
indicators are subjective and are based on indi viduals' personal experiences of being
refugees (Parekh 2009:40). Therefore, wherever refugees end up living, these personal
indicators of integration will be commonly found. Many of the discussions and findings of
this thesis on the personal experience of integration are therefore relevant to other global
locations.
I contend that the issue of integration addressed in this thesis needs to become more
pertinent in conversations concerning refugees. Recognizing the complexity of the social
issue, the number of refugees has now reached a level that is considered a 'crisis' on the
global scale. As many countries begin to accept high levels of refugees at accelerated rates
in response to humanitarian need, the integration of refugees must be addressed. Countries
will need to look at what occurs after refugees are accepted and begin entering the country.

141

This thesis provides useful information that can aid in this process, both at the political
level and at the social and community level of society.

142

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162

Appendix 1 - Subm issions to the OPMI on Ireland 's Integration Policy
This list represents the individuals and organizations that submitted a report in response to
the OPM I's Call for Submissions. Some of the submitters agreed to have their reports
made available to the public on the OPMI 's website. The submissions published online by
the OPMI are bolded in this list, and are the reports that I was able to review for my policy
analysis. Titles that are not underlined are not available for public viewing. The links to
the published submissions are available through the OPM J's website (OPMI, Submissions
on Migrant Integration Policy, 2014).

1. 7 Individuals from Newbridge Asylum Seekers Supp01t Group
2. 7 Individuals Interested in and Committed to Migrants' Integration in
Ireland:
Ms. Winifred Akinyemi
Ms. Teresa Jadwiga Buczkowska
Mr. Godfrey Chimbganda
Dr. Alice Feldman
Mr. Zeph Immanuellkeh
Dr. Fidele Mutwarasibo
Mr. Rob Whelan

3. Afro-Irish Organisation
4. Age Action
5. Aidan Rowe

6. AkiDwa
7. Alistair Smith
8. Andrew Sexton
9. Anne Tannam
I 0. Baha'i Information Office
11 . Balbriggan Integration Forum
12. Black Irish Integration Association

163

13. Cairde
14. Carlow Integration Forum
15. Catherine Ann Cullen

16. Centre for Creative Practice
17. Childrens Rights Alliance
18. Citizens Information Board (CIB)
19. Clonakilty Friends of Asylum Seekers
20. Cormac McKay
2 1. Crosscare

22. Cultiar Migrant Centre
23. Daniel Ayiotis
24. Daniel Ryan
25. Dice Network

26. Doras Luimni
27. Dr. Antain Mac Lochlainn

28. Dr. Cliodhna Murphy
29. Dr. Ronit Lentin
30. Dr. Wendy Cox

31. Dr. Sam O'Brien-Oiinger
32. Eimear Gallagher
33. Enrique
34. ESRI
35. Estelle Birdy

164

36. Faith in Action Group Ballineaspaig Parish

37. Fiona Bolger
38. Football Association of Ireland
39. Forum Polonia
40. Galway County Community and Voluntary Forum
41 . Holocaust Education Trust Ireland (HETI)
42. IBEC
43. ICTU
44. Immigrant Council of Ireland
45. Ireland India Council
46. Irish Refugee Council

47. James Sinnott
48. John Condon
49. John Loesberg
50. Joseph Nyirenda
51. Joseph Wood
52. KASI
53. Kilkenny Integration Forum
54. Liam de Feu
55. Mark Conroy
56. Mark Lacey and Wando Avila
57. Mayo Intercultural Action
58. Migrant Rights Centre Ireland (MRCI)

165

59. Nasc- Irish Immigrant Support Centre
60. National Youth Council of Ireland
6 1. New Communities Partnership

62. Newbridge Asylum Seekers Support Group
63. Paula Geraghty
64. Pavee Point
65. Peadar O'Donoghue
66. Polish Educational Society in Ireland
67. Quality and Qualifications Ireland

68. R ape Crisis Network Ireland (RCNI)
69. Richard McAleavey

70. S. Morrin
71. S.O.S - European Support Network and Social Think Tank
72. SOLAS

73. SPIRASI
74. Sport Against Racism in Ireland (SARI)
75. T he Integration Centre
76. Tralee International R esource Centre
77. UNHCR

78. Vicky DonneUy
79. Women's Integrated Network (WIN)
80. YMCA C ork
81. Zoe Lawlor

166

Appendix 2- Submissions Presented to the Cross-Departmental Group
This list represents the individuals and organizations that met with the Cross-Departmental
Group as part of the consultative meetings. Out of the 81 individuals and organizations
who submitted a report to the OPMI, 28 met with the Cross-Departmental Group22 (OPMI,
Review of Integration Strategy, 20 15).

l. Migrant Rights Centre Ireland
2. The Integration Centre

3. Cairde
4. Ireland India Council
5. National Youth Council of Ireland

6. Crosscare
7. NASC (Irish Immigrant Support Centre)

8. New Communities Partnership
9. Kilkenny Integration Forum
10. Irish Congress of Trades Unions

11. AkiDwA
12. Pavee Point
13. Immigrant Council of Ireland
14. CultUr Migrant Centre

15. Irish Refugee Council
16. Black Irish Integration Association
17. SPIRASI
18. Sport Against Racism
22

The OPMI website states that 27 groups met with the Cross-Departmental Group in the consultative
meetings, however 28 are listed in the online appendix.

167

19. FootbaLl Association of Ireland
20. UNHCR
21. Economic and Social Research Institute
22. Forum Polonia
23. Mayo Intercultural Action
24. Doras Luirnni
25. Citizens Infonnation Board
26. Polish Education Society
27. Joseph Nyirenda
28. The DICE Project

168

Appendix 3 - UNBC Research Ethics Board Approved Documents
Appendix 3.1 REB Approval

UNNERSTIY OF NORTHERN BRITISH COLUMBIA
RESEARCH ETHICS BOARD

MEMORANDUM
To:

CC:

Krista Voogd
Angele Smith

From:

Michael Murphy, Chair
Research Ethics Board

Date:

June 26, 201 4

Re:

E2014.0514.033.00
An Examination of Integration and Multic::ult urallsm: Integration Into

Irish Society
Thank you for submitting the c::onsents from the Africa Centre and Dublin City Council to
the Research Ethics Board (REB).
We are pleased to issue approval for the above named study for a period of 12 months
from the date of this letter. ContinuatiOn beyond that date will require further review and
renewal of REB approval. Any changes or amendments to the protoc::ol or c::onsent form
must be approved by the REB.
Please note that you may not c::onduct any interviews with other NGO's with respect to
this project until you obtain c::onsent from their respective office(s) and have forwarded
same to the REB.
Good luck with your research.
Sincerely,

Dr. Michael Murphy
Chair, Research Ethics Board

169

Appendix 3.2 Email Script to Government Officials

To Whom It May Concern,
I am a graduate student, Krista Voogd, from the University ofNorthem British Columbia
(UNBC) in Canada. I am currently working towards my Master of Arts in Interdisciplinary
Studies, with a focus in Anthropology and Political Science. This past school semester I
have begun working on my thesis research project with my supervisor from UNBC (Dr.
Angele Smith) studying how minority groups integrate into larger
m ulticultural/intercultural societies and what is involved in the integration process.
Specifically, I am interested in the policies and spaces created for and by refugees in the
development of multi-ethnic communities within Ireland, in order to explore how refugees
integrate into Ireland 's multicultural and/or intercultural society.
I am interested in Ireland because of its recent history of increased immigration and
specifically how newcomers are received and integrated into the Irish society. This
research is a continuation of a field school that I went on in May of 2011 during my
undergraduate degree, where I went with my class to Ireland and the Isle of Man to study
issues of multiculturalism, heritage, identity and place. In my Masters thesis, I am studying
the themes of integration, multiculturalism, interculturalism, identity, and place.
I am very interested in your department, which I discovered when I was conducting
background research on integration policies in Ireland and the governmental departments
and/or offices that are connected to the policies. For my research, I am very interested in
exploring what policies exist at the different levels of government in Ireland that focus on
integration, and more specifica lly refugee integration. During this background research, I
explored different government websites for how integration and policy were presented and
discussed. In my Internet research, your department stood out with its connection to
integration and policy.
I was wondering if there would be any individuals from your department who would be
willing to be interviewed as part of my research project. This could include anyone who
works in the office who is involved with either integration policy creation or
implementation. The interviews should take approximately an hour, but may vary between
interview participants, depending on the flow of conversation and what participants wish to
talk elaborate on. The information gathered from these interviews will be used to explore
the state policies of integration that exist in Ireland and how/why they were created. I will
be arriving in Dublin on July 14th, 2014 and will be there for the following four weeks into
the first week of August. I am looking forward to the possibility of interviewing officials
and members from your department, which I believe would provide valuable experiences
and be very informative for me as a student.
Please Jet me know if there would be anyone who would be willing to participate in an
interview. I look forward to hearing from you.
Thank you for your time and consideration,
Krista Voogd, voogdk@unbc.ca
170

Appendix 3.3 Email Script to SPIRASI

To Whom It May Concern,
I am a graduate student, Krista Voogd, from the University ofNorthem British Columbia
(UNBC) in Canada. I am currently working towards my Master of Arts in Interdisciplinary
Studies, with a focus in Anthropology and Political Science. This past school semester I
have begun working on my thesis research project with my supervisor from UNBC (Dr.
Angele Smith) studying how minority groups integrate into larger
multicultural/intercultural societies and what is involved in the integration process.
Specifically, I am interested in the policies and spaces created for and by refugees in the
development of multi-ethnic communities within Ireland, in order to explore how refugees
integrate into Ireland's multicultural and/or intercultural society.
I am interested in Ireland because of its recent history of increased immigration and
specifically how newcomers are received and integrated into the Irish society. This
research is a continuation of a field school that I went on in May of 2011 during my
undergraduate degree, where I went with my class to Ireland and the Isle of Man to study
issues of multiculturalism, heritage, identity and place. In my Masters thesis, I am studying
the themes of integration, multiculturalism, interculturalism, identity, and place.
I am very interested in your organization, which I discovered when I was conducting
background research on non-goverrunental organizations in Ireland that focus on
supporting and advocating for refugees and minority groups. Because ofNGOs'
intermediate position between the Irish state and refugees, I believe that exploring their role
in integration and support is vital for my research project. Based on review
ofSPIRASI and its mission statement, I believe it represents the type ofNGO that I am
hoping to work with.
I was wondering if there was any possibility that I would be able to come to SPIRASI and
experience and see how SPIR.ASI functions, and how it works with refugees and other
people. I would appreciate being able to participate in any way that you believe would be
appropriate for me as a researcher, including volunteering or job shadowing someone if
that was an option. I will be arriving in Dublin on July 14111, 2014 and will be there for the
following four weeks into the first week of August. I am looking forward to the possibility
of being at SPIRASI in order to experience the daily functioning of the NGO, which I
believe would provide valuable experience and be very informative for me as a student.

In addition to volunteering, I was also wondering if there would be any individuals from
the SPIRASI who would be willing to be interviewed as part of the research project. This
could include either staff members or refugees who use your services. The interview
questions are based on the key themes of my research and would be aimed at gaining
greater knowledge about SPIRASI and its roles in refugee integration and support. The
interviews would build upon and supplement my experience of being at your organization.
The interviews should take approximately an hour, but may vary between interview
171

participants depending on the flow of conversation and what participants wish elaborate
on. The information gathered from these interviews will be used to explore the lived
experience of refugee integration into Irish society and how this compares to state policies
of integration.
Please let me know if there is any possibility of me being able to spend some time, whether
a day or a few days, atSPIRASI in order to see and experience the work that it does, and/or
if anyone would be willing to participate in an interview. I look forward to hearing from
you.
Thank you for your time and consideration,
Krista Voogd
voogdk@unbc.ca

172

Appendix 3.4 Letter of Introduction to Government Officials

To Whom It May Concern,
I am a graduate student, Krista Voogd, at the University of Northern British Columbia
(UNBC) in Canada. This past school year (September 2013 - April2014) I began my
Masters Program in Interdisciplinary Studies at UNBC, with a focus in Anthropology and
Political Science. While taking courses in these disciplines, I have been preparing to
conduct fieldwork in Dublin, Ireland in July and August 20 I 4 on my research project "An
Examination oflntegration and Multiculturalism: Refugee Integration into Irish Society" .
In my research, I am interested in how minority groups integrate into larger multicultural
societies and what is involved in the integration process. Specifically, I look at the policies
and spaces created for and by refugees in the development of multicultural/intercultural
communities within Ireland, which allow me to explore how refugees integrate into
Ireland ' s society. I will focus on state policies of integration and how these compare to
refugees ' lived experience of integration through refugees' sense of identity and place. I
will examine Non-government organizations' (NGO) mediation role in integration, in order
to help explore the relationship between integration policy and the lived experience.
I developed an interest in this research after taking part in UNBC ' s Anthropology/Political
Science field school in Ireland and Isle of Man in May 2011 during my undergraduate
degree. The field school focused on issues of multiculturalism, heritage, identity and place.
Upon completion of my Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology, I applied and was accepted into
the Master of Arts Interdisciplinary program in order to further my study of these themes.
In my Masters thesis, I am studying the themes of integration, multiculturalism,
interculturalism, identity, and place.
As part of the research process, I am hoping to conduct interviews with state policy
makers, NGO staff members, and refugees. State official participants were chosen based
on their connection to governmental or state bodjes that focus on integration and/or that
create or enact policies that affect refugee integration into Irish society. The interviews
will be based on a number of questions concerned with the key themes as outlined above
and the interviews will be recorded, either by a digital recorder that will be turned on at the
beginning of the interview and/or by hand written notes that I will take in my field
notebook during the interview. Photographs may also be taken in order to provide images
of where the interviews are taking place, however participants would the right to opt out of
any photographs. The interviews should take approximately an hour, but may vary
between interview participants depending on the flow of conversation and what
participants wish to talk about or elaborate on. Participation is strictly on a voluntary basis.
The participant would have the right not to answer any question or to withdraw from the
interview at any point and ask that any information they provide might not be used in the
research and/or be destroyed. It is also the right of the participant to choose to remain
anonymous or to make any or all of their answers confidential. The participant will be
asked to give their consent by signing a consent form to indicate that shefhe understands

173

their rights. I will give participants a small honorarium as a thank you for their participation
in the research interviews.
The potential benefits of this study generally are aimed at working toward greater
community awareness and tolerance in the spirit of multiculturalism/interculturalism.
Potential risks from participating in this study may include psychological or emotional
risks that may arise if traumatic experiences are discussed concerning refugees '
experiences. To protect against this, participants have the right to opt out of answering any
question that they do not wish to answer or feel uncomfortable with, and do not need to
provide any reasoning for choosing to opt out. This includes protecting themselves from
any social risks, such as loss of status or reputation that may arise from participating. What
interview questions are asked and how they are asked will also been done in such a way as
to avoid as much as possible any negative risks. If any risks do occur, participants may
contact SPIRASI, an organization that focuses on support and counseling of refuge seekers
and others, at either their Dublin office, 213 North Circular Road,
Phibsborough, Dublin 7, or by telephone at 01 8389664.
The information gathered through the interviews will be recorded and the relevant sections
will be transcribed. I will keep digital recordings, hand-written notes and any transcripts in
a secure location (a locked file cabinet) at my home until the research project is completed.
For my graduate studies I will be supervised by Dr. Angele Smith from the Anthropology
Department at UNBC (who was one of the co-instructors on the field school). Only Dr.
Smith and myself will have access to these documents. Upon completion of the research
project, these documents will be shredded and any recordings deleted.
If the interview participant wishes for any conditions to be placed on the use of the
interview transcriptions (anonymity; confidentiality of sources) those will be discussed
prior to the interview. This includes keeping interview transcripts and recordings
confidential and only available to those involved in the research project (myself and Dr.
Smith), as well as keeping participants' responses and/or identities anonymous, if they so
choose, by using different names for individuals in the written research and separating
individuals' identities from the information they have provided. I will be happy to provide
copies of transcripts of the interview if the participant wishes to have a copy. Furthermore,
any research results published or presented will be made available to the participant upon
request by contacting me, Krista Voogd (see below for contact information). The
information gathered from these interviews will be used to explore the lived experience of
refugee integration into Irish society and how this compares to state policies of integration.
The findings will be presented in such a way that they are accessible to the public, such as
writing media publications, for example the Metro Eireann and newspaper articles, or
postings on NGO advocacy websites and public presentations at conferences.
If you have any questions regarding this research project or the interview process, please
contact Professor Smith or myself. Any complaints about the study should be directed to
the Office of Research, University ofNorthem British Columbia, Canada (250) 960-6735
or reb@unbc.ca.
Thank you for your time and consideration of this request,
174

Krista Voogd
Graduate Student
Department of Anthropology
University of Northern British Columbia
Columbia
3333 University Way
Email: voogdk@unbc.ca

Dr. Angele Smith
Associate Professor
Department of Anthropology
University of Northern British
3333 University Way
Email: angele.smitb@unbc.ca

175

Appendix 3.5 Letter of Introduction to SPIRASI

To Whom It May Concern,
I am a graduate student, Krista Voogd, at the University ofNorthern British Columbia
(UNBC) in Canada. This past school year (September 20 13 -April 20 14) I began my
Masters Program in Interdisciplinary Studies at UNBC, with a focus in Anthropology and
Political Science. While taking courses in these disciplines, I have been preparing to
conduct fieldwork in Dublin, Ireland in July and August 2014 on my research project "An
Examination of Integration and Multiculturalism: Refugee Integration into Irish Society".
In my research, I am interested in how minority groups integrate into larger multicultural
societies and what is involved in the integration process. Specifically, I look at the policies
and spaces created for and by refugees in the development of multicultural/intercultural
communities within Ireland, which allow me to explore how refugees integrate into
Ireland 's society. l will focus on state policies of integration and how these compare to
refugees' lived experience of integration through refugees' sense of identity and place. I
will examine Non-government organizations' (NGO) mediation role in integration, in order
to help explore the relationship between integration policy and the lived experience.
I developed an interest in this research after taking part in UNBC 's Anthropology/Political
Science field school in Ireland and Isle of Man in May 2011 during my undergraduate
degree. The field school focused on issues of multiculturalism, heritage, identity and place.
Upon completion of my Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology, I applied and was accepted into
the Master of Arts Interdisciplinary program in order to further my study of these themes.
In my Masters thesis, I am studying the themes of integration, multiculturalism,
interculturalism, identity, and place.
As part of the research process, I am hoping to conduct interviews with state policy
makers, NGO staff members, and refugees. NGOs were chosen through a selection process
that took into account their mission statements, goals, campaigns, targeted demographics,
and the organization of the NGO. The interviews will be based on a number of questions
concerned with the key themes as outlined above and the interviews will be recorded,
either by a digital recorder that will be turned on at the beginning of the interview and/or
by hand written notes that I will take in my field notebook during the interview.
Photographs may also be taken in order to provide images of where the interviews are
taking place, however participants would the right to opt out of any photographs. The
interviews should take approximately an hour, but may vary between interview participants
depending on the flow of conversation and what participants wish to talk about or elaborate
on. Participation is strictly on a voluntary basis. The participant would have the right not
to answer any question or to withdraw from the interview at any point and ask that any
information they provide might not be used in the research and/or be destroyed. It is also
the right of the participant to choose to remain anonymous or to make any or all of their
answers confidential. The participant will be asked to give their consent by signing a

176

consent form to indicate that she/he understands their rights. I will give participants a
small honorarium as a thank you for their participation in the research interviews.
The potential benefits of this study generally are aimed at working toward greater
community awareness and tolerance in the spirit of multiculturalism/interculturalism.
Potential risks from participating in this study may include psychological or emotional
risks that may arise if traumatic experiences are di scussed concerning refugees'
experiences. To protect against this, participants have the right to opt out of answering any
question that they do not wish to answer or feel uncomfortable with, and do not need to
provide any reasoning for choosing to opt out. This includes protecting themselves from
any social risks, such as loss of status or reputation that may arise from participating. What
interview questions are asked and how they are asked will also been done in such a way as
to avoid as much as possible any negative risks. If any risks do occur, participants may
contact SPIRASI, an organization that focuses on support and counseling of refuge seekers
and others, at either their Dublin office, 213 North Circular Road,
Phibsborough, Dublin 7, or by telephone at Ol 8389664.
The information gathered through the interviews will be recorded and the relevant sections
will be transcribed. I will keep digital recordings, hand-written notes and any transcripts in
a secure location (a locked file cabinet) at my home until the research project is completed.
For my graduate studies I will be supervised by Dr. Angele Smith from the Anthropology
Department at UNBC (who was one of the co-instructors on the field school). Only Dr.
Smith and myself will have access to these documents. Upon completion of the research
project, these documents will be shredded and any recordings deleted.
If the interview participant wishes for any conditions to be placed on the use of the
interview transcriptions (anonymity; confidentiality of sources) those will be discussed
prior to the interview. This includes keeping interview transcripts and recordings
confidential and only available to those involved in the research project (myself and Dr.
Smith), as well as keeping participants' responses and/or identities anonymous, if they so
choose, by using different names for individuals in the written research and separating
individuals ' identities from the information they have provided. 1 will be happy to provide
copies of transcripts of the interview if the participant wishes to have a copy. Furthermore,
any research results published or presented will be made available to the participant upon
request by contacting me, Krista Voogd (see below for contact information).
The information gathered from these interviews will be used to explore the lived
experience of refugee integration into Irish society and how this compares to state policies
of integration. The findings will be presented in such a way that they are accessible to the
public, such as writing media publications, for example the Metro Eireann and newspaper
articles, or postings on NGO advocacy websites and public presentations at conferences.
If you have any questions regarding this research project or the interview process, please
contact Professor Smith or myself. Any complaints about the study should be directed to
the Office of Research, University of Northern British Columbia, Canada (250) 960-6735
or reb@unbc.ca.
177

Thank you for your time and consideration of this request,
Krista Voogd
Graduate Student
Department of Anthropology
University of Northern British Columbia
Columbia
3333 University Way
Email: voogdk@unbc.ca

Dr. Angele Smith
Associate Professor
Department of Anthropology
University of Northern British
3333 University Way
Ph: (250) 960-6492
Email: angele.smith@unbc.ca

178

Appendix 3.6 Interview Consent Form

RESEARCH STUDY:
An Examination of Integration and Multiculturalism: Refugee Integration into Irish
Society
INFORMED CONSENT FORM

To be presented to and read by the Research Participant.
Do you understand that you have been asked to be in a research study?

o Yes

o No

Have you read and received a copy of the attached introduction to research
letter?

o Yes

o No

Do you understand that the research interviews will be recorded?

o Yes

o No

Do you understand the benefits and risks involved in participating in tlus
study?

o Yes

o No

Have you bad an opportunity to ask questions and discuss this study?

o Yes

o No

Do you understand that you are free to refuse to participate or to withdraw
from the study at any time? You do not have to give a reason and it will not
affect you in any way.

o Yes

o No

Has the issue of confidentiality been explained to you?

o Yes

o No

Doyou understand who will have access to the information you provide?

o Yes

o No

Do you understand that the information you provide will be kept in a secure
location?
Do you consent to have your photograph taken as part of the research project?

o Yes

o No

o Yes

o No

This study was explained to me by:

Krista Voogd, Graduate Thesis Researcher
Print Name

If you agree to take part in this study, please sign below to indicate that you have read,
understood and consent to the above.
Signature of Participant: _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ ____ Date: _ _ _ __ _ __
Print Name:

--------------------

179

Appendix 3.7 Interview Questions
Appendix 3.7.1 Interviews with State Policy Makers
Background Questions:
1. How long have you worked at this office/department?
a. What is your position here?
2. Do you know the history this office/department and why it was started?
a. Historical/social context of its creation?
b. Has its focused changed at all in your opinion?
3. In your opinion, what are the goals/mission of this office/department?
4. How does it seek to achieve them?
Prompts
a. What policies are used?
b. How are they put into practice?
1. Campaigns?
ii. Events?
111. Website?
Integration!MulticulturalismllntercuJturalism
1. Does this office/department focus on integration? How?
a. How does the office/department include integration in its policy creation
and implementation?
2. How is integration measured?
a. Employment, education, voting, political involvement, housing, etc.
b. Social identity, active community members, sense of belonging
3. In your opinion, what were the reasons behind the creation of these integration
policies?
a. Moral reasons?
b. Practical reasons?
c. Historical Context?
4. Does integration connect with policies of multiculturalism/interculturalism?
a. Does integration have a different focus?
5. In your opinion, what are or is there a difference between the terms multicultural
and intercultural?
a. How would you defme them?
6. Do these policies focus on a particular group in society?
a. Immigrants?
b. Refugees?
c. Asylum seekers?
7. In your opinion, what is the focused goal or achievement of these policies?

180

Appendix 3.7.2 Interviews with NGO Advocates:
Background Questions:
l. Where are you from?
a. When did you come to Ireland?
b. Why did you come to Ireland?
2. How long have you worked at this organization?
a. What is your position in this organization?
3. What brought you to this specific organization?
Prompts:
a. In need of work?
b. Previous connections?
c. Recommendations?
4. Do you know the history this organization and when and why it was started?
a. Has its focused changed at all in your opinion?
5. In your opinion, what are the goals/mission of the NGO?
6. How does it seek to achieve them?
Prompts
a. Campaigns?
b. Events?
c. Website?
Nongovernmental Organization and the State
l. In your opinion, what effects does State policy have on the organization of the
NGO?
a. Are there any state rules or guidelines NGOs must follow?
Prompt:
i. Does state policy dictate or affect the NGO 's internal policies?
2. Is there any state policy concerning refugees that the NGO particularly foc uses on?
a. Is there any exchange of information between state organizations and the
NGO?
i. Does the state request info1mation from the NGO?
ii. Does the NGO take the initiative in providing the state with
information?
b. Is the NGO able to provide any reviews or recommendations to policy
change?
3. What is your understanding of the terms ' multicultural' and 'intercultural ' ?
a. How do you believe the state uses these terms in policy?
i. Does the state use them in a way that affects refugees?
b. Does the NGO use these terms and how/why?
Advocacy and Integration
These questions may overlap with previous sections, but this section is necessmy in order
to delve further into advocacy and integration

1. What is your understanding of the role ofNGO advocacy?
a. What is the purpose?
181

2. How do you understand your relationship with refugees as an advocate and advisor?
3. What role does the organization play in refugee integration? Does it play a role?
a. Is integration a goal or focus of the NGO? Why or why not?
b. Does the NGO provide any support for or education of integration?
c. How does the NGO view integration or integration success?

182

Appendix 3.7.3 Interviews with Refugees
Background:
1. Where are you from?
2. When did you arrive in Ireland?
3. Did you come by yourself or with others?
I. Why did you choose Ireland?
2. What was your experience of gaining refugee status in Ireland?
Prompt: Has it affected how you think of or perceive Ireland?
Nongovernmental Organization
I hope to contact refugees for interviews through the NGOs I will be researching with. If,
however, I interview a refugee not connected to one ofthe NGOs, this section will not
apply.
I. What has been your experience with the NGO?
a. Why did you choose this NGO?
b. Do you believe the NGO has helped you in anyway? Why or why not?
i. What services or support does the NGO provide?
c. Has the NGO helped you create a sense of community? How, or why not?
Identity:
I. Now that you have gained refugee status, do you feel a connection to your land of
origin? Why or why not?
a. What kind of connection?
i. Prompts: Social/cultural; economic; familial; strong/weak
2. Now that you have gained refugee status, do you feel a connection to Ireland? Why
or why not?
a. What kind of connection?
i. Prompts: Social/cultural; economic; fami lial; strong/weak
3. How do you culturally identify yourself?
a. Prompt: Irish? African (nationality of origin)? Both? Can you explain?
Experience and Multiculturalism:
1. What has been your experience of living in Ireland?
a. Do you have a sense of community or belonging here in Ireland? Why or
why not?
b. Have you felt welcomed into society?
Prompts:
1. Do you always feel welcomed, or never? Do you sometimes feel
welcomed?
11. Does it change with your location? Are there some places that are
more welcoming than others?
111. Do you feel like you are welcomed in, or discriminated against?
Does it vary on the circumstances?
2. Do think of Ireland as multicultural? What does that mean to you?
a. Have you come across this tenn elsewhere?
183

Prompts:
i. Newspapers, television, other social media?
ii. NGO sources, websites, or information?
iii State documents or information sources?
3. Do you feel Like you have integrated into Irish society? Why or why not?
a. What are some of the ways you have integrated?
i. Job, education, voting, housing, etc.
ii. Social identity, involved in community activities, sense of
belonging, etc.
b. What has hindered or affected your integration?
c. Is integration important, or is it not necessary?

184