New Study on Immigrant Youth in Ireland Launched
Posted on: 09 July 2008
There are 117,635 young people under 19 years living in Ireland who were not born in the state (Census 2006). However, immigration tends to be spoken of as if it is only an adult issue. Jobs, the economy, the work force tend to dominate discussion about immigration. Many immigrants, however, are children and young people.
On July 9th, Integrating Ireland and the Children’s Research Centre at Trinity College Dublin launched a new research study, the Immigrant Youth Research Project, which aims to gain an understanding of what are the key experiences and issues for these migrant young people. The study will explore how they find life in Ireland, looking at issues such as school, friendship, recreation, relations with ‘local’ young people and much more. The Minister for Integration, Conor Lenihan, TD launched the study at the event in TCD.
Commenting on the significance of the study, Aki Stavrou, Director of Integrating Ireland said: “One of the core aims of the Irish Government is to promote a good model of immigrant integration into a fair, just and inclusive society. Creating and maintaining an inclusive society in the future will be the result of how youth today face up to the challenges of the future, particularly where integration is concerned. The experiences of immigrant youth as newcomers to Irish society today will help to shape their attitudes and opportunities and their contribution to Irish life and society in the future. It is these young people who in many ways will influence the long term story of immigration in Ireland”.
The study will explore the experience of young migrants aged 15-18 from a range of cultural backgrounds and living in different parts of the country.
It seeks to address such questions as:
-What is life like for migrant youth?
-What challenges do they face?
-How have they found living in Ireland?
-What are their aspirations for the future?
The study plans to hold 16 focus groups in various centres around the country involving approximately 150 young people. A unique feature of this research is that immigrant youth will be recruited and trained to help co-facilitate the focus groups. It is intended that this study be part of a series of studies with the next phase investigating the perspective of ‘local’ young people in their relations with immigrant young people.
Speaking at the launch, Prof Robbie Gilligan, Associate Director, Children’s Research Centre, TCD and Head of the School of Social Workand Social Policy, TCD said: “The findings of the study will be of interest to public and voluntary organisations working with and for youth. It is increasingly important that policy is based on firm evidence and that this evidence includes the experience and views of people directly affected. The study is exciting because it will be the first national investigation of key issues in the lives of immigrant young people”.
ENDS
Further information from:
Aki Stavrou, Director, Integrating Ireland. Tel 087 784 7310 / 01 475 9473
Sally-Anne Fisher, Communications Officer, TCD. Tel 01 896 3606 / 087 995 8014
Notes to the Editor:
1. Statistics:
Central Statistics Office – According to the most recent census there are now just over 30,000 people of African and Asian origin under the age of 19 living in the State.
There are approximately 12,000 people under the age of 14 from Central Europe, Eastern Europe and Russia.
2. About Integrating Ireland
Integrating Ireland was established in July 2001 and is currently a network of 204 immigrant organisations and organisations working with immigrants around the country. The organisation works “to promote and to realise the human rights, equality and full integration of refugees, people seeking asylum, migrants and immigrants in Ireland”. The network seeks to maximise scarce resources by providing training, mentoring and organisational development to member organisations, as well as combining efforts in relation to lobbying and sharing information and by providing effective national co-ordination on agreed strategic issues. The main strategic areas that the organisation focuses in are: Integration of Immigrants, particularly at the local area level, the Integration of Immigrant Youth and on issues that impact on Asylum Seekers. The organisation is also currently working with a number of UN agencies promoting the inclusion of immigrants as a vulnerable group into various policy directives.
3. About TCD’s Children’s Research Centre
The Children’s Research Centre, Trinity College Dublin, is a specialist centre, established in 1995 which undertakes multi-disciplinary policy and practice-relevant research into the lives of children and young people and the contexts in which they live their lives. One important strand of its work relates to investigating the experiences of immigrant children and young people and relations between ‘local’ and immigrant young people. The Centre is part of the School of Psychologyand the School of Social Workand Social Policy and is a member of Childwatch International, a nonprofit, nongovernmental network of institutions engaged in research for children. In its work the Centre strives to produce high quality research of interest to researchers, policy makers and service providers. The Centre also aims to build capacity and skills in researching children’s lives. It works closely with statutory, voluntary and community bodies concerned with children and young people. The Centre is also committed to forging strong links with Irish and international colleagues in the field of child and youth research.