Examining integration of refugees in multicultural Ireland: policy, advocacy and lived experience

In this study I explore refugee integration in Ireland. I focus on state policies and structures of integration as well as the lived experience of refugee integration. I ask three questions: 1) What are the state policies and structures that might influence refuge integration? 2) What are the roles of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in refugee integration? 3) How do refugees themselves understand their experience of integration in their new home country? This study uses the research methods of policy analysis and ethnographic research, specifically participant observation and semi-structured interviews. I argue that refuge integration is a complicated negotiation between positive experiences of integration into parts of a multicultural/intercultural society, and negative experiences of discrimination and racism levied against marginalized and "~different' individuals. This negotiation is influenced by the government's neoliberal approach to policy and service implementation and the reliance on NGO advocacy groups. --Leaf ii.