ICI News Bulletin - Issue 63

Thursday, 18 March 2010

1. Dublin Lord Mayor welcomes work of the Dignity Project
2. European partners discuss approaches to diversity training
3. Call for greater commitment to combating racism
4. Michelin Star restaurant to host fund-raiser for ICI’s trafficking work
5. Update on approval process for residence cards for EU citizens’ family members
6. Senior Solicitor accepted on British Council Transatlantic Network 2020 programme
7. Call for participants in mentoring programmes
8. Cultural identity to be the focus of April learning lab
9. ICI welcomes ICTU women’s conference call to tackle trafficking and sexual exploitation
10. Migrant women’s experiences discussed at feminist conference
11. ICI staff member successfully defends his PhD thesis

 

Dublin Lord Mayor welcomes work of the Dignity Project
Chief Executive Denise Charlton met recently with Dublin Lord Mayor Cllr Emer Costello, who expressed support for the Dignity Project, an EU-funded initiative aimed at ensuring the delivery of quality services to women and girls who are the victims of sex trafficking in Ireland.  The ICI and Dublin Employment Pact are the initiating partners of the Dignity Project in Ireland.

The Lord Mayor indicated the findings and learning so far from the Dignity project would be highlighted to the Council and that the City of Dublin welcomed the work being carried out, offering her full support.

Other Irish partners in the Dignity project are the Department of Justice's Anti Human Trafficking Unit, An Garda Síochána, the Legal Aid Board, Sonas Housing, Ruhama and the HSE's Women's Health Project.  For more information, please contact Anti-Trafficking Coordinator Nusha Yonkova – This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

 

European Partners discuss approaches to diversity training
Representatives from Irish government and non-government agencies and business organisations outlined their approaches to diversity training to representatives from six European organisations who are developing a best practice model as part of an EU-funded project.

ICI Information and Support Service Coordinator Brian Killoran hosted the partners’ meeting on Monday and Tuesday.  The two-year “Improving Diversity Training for Small and Medium Enterprises” project, funded by the Leonardo Da Vinci programme, aims to research and document best practice and recommend practical steps that can used throughout the EU.  Organisations from Denmark, Greece, Malta, Romania and the UK are involved in the project and the ICI is the Irish partner.

Diane Nurse from the Health Services Executive, Ruth O’Dea from AkiDwA, Dr Mary Hogan and Dr Deirdre Crowe from the Irish Management Institute, Mark Fielding from the Irish Small and Medium Enterprises Association, Rabiya Ali from Doras Luimni and Eilish Corcoran from EPIC gave presentations to the meeting.  For more information, please contact Brian – This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

 

Call for greater commitment to combating racism
The ICI has called for a greater commitment to be given to combating racism in Ireland, with research conducted over the past year showing migrants and minorities continue to experience significant discrimination.  Sunday is the UN’s International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.

Research released last December by the EU’s Fundamental Rights Agency showed that Sub-Saharan Africans in Ireland experienced one of the highest rates of discrimination recorded in an EU-wide survey.  Also last year, the Economic and Social Research Institute found migrants were significantly less likely to be shortlisted for job interviews than equally qualified Irish applicants.  The Central Statistics Office this year release survey results showing that migrants were half as likely as Irish workers to enjoy employment conditions such as paid sick leave or flexible working hours and half as likely to be aware of how employment legislation affects them.  CSO Live Register statistics have consistently shown migrants are losing their jobs at a higher rate than Irish workers.

The ICI believes the research and statistics demonstrate a clear need for a greater priority to be given to ensuring migrants have access to information about their rights and entitlements, the need to rigorously enforce employment laws and to combat discrimination and racism.  The ICI is part of a consortium appointed by the FRA as its National Focal Point for the RAXEN (Racism, Xenophobia, Islamophobia and Anti-Semitism) project in Ireland, along with the Irish Council for Civil Liberties and the School of Social Justice at University College Dublin.

 

Michelin Star restaurant to host fund-raiser for ICI’s anti-trafficking work
Chapter One, a Michelin Star restaurant in Dublin, will host a night of fine dining to help raise funds for the ICI’s anti-trafficking work, on Monday April 19.  Money raised from the event will also be used to develop a training course for those exploited in the sex industry to assist them to exit prostitution and gain access to employment.

The event will start with a wine reception at 7pm, followed by a three-course dinner prepared by award-winning head chef Ross Lewis.

Tickets cost €150 and are available from Fundraising Intern Maretta O’Driscoll – 01 645 8160 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

 

Update on approval process for residence cards for EU citizens’ family members
Our last ICI News Bulletin contained an item about a letter we received from the European Commission (EC), stating it would raise the issue of the length of time the Irish Government is taking for reviews of decisions to refuse residence to the family members of EU citizens.  Last Friday, the High Court in Ireland delivered its judgement in the case of John Tagni v the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, where a judicial review was sought on this issue.  The applicant is represented by Brophy Solicitors.

Judge John Edwards found that the six-month time frame allowed under EU law for the Minister to decide an application was mandatory in all cases.  The judge found that, even where the Minister is uncertain about the nature of an application but the applicant has provided all the required documentation, the residence card must be granted within the six month period.  A residence card can be revoked in cases of fraud.

While the judge also stated that there was no time limit in respect of reviews of decisions to refuse an application for a residence card, a period of consideration of more than three months would generally constitute an unreasonable delay.  The EC is currently dealing with a number of complaints from people who have been waiting more than a year for a final decision on their application for a residence card.  For more information, please contact Senior Solicitor Hilkka Becker – This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

 

Senior Solicitor accepted on British Council Transatlantic Network 2020 programme
Senior Solicitor Catherine Cosgrave has been selected to join the British Council Transatlantic Network 2020 programme.

The network of 130 young professionals from North America and Europe are working on projects under three categories – sustainable living, economic inequality and access, and divided communities.

Members were selected after a nomination and application process and the network will hold its inaugural summit in Chicago in June. For more information about the programme, please see the British Council website - http://www.britishcouncil.org/tn2020-getting-involved-about-our-participants.htm

 

Call for participants in mentoring programmes
Organisations involved in the roll-out of mentoring programmes for migrants throughout Ireland are now calling for potential mentors and mentees to take part.

The ICI recently held a “train the trainers” session for organisations interested in conducting a mentoring programme based on the successful pilot programme undertaken by the ICI.  The ICI received funding from the European Fund for the Integration of Third Country Nationals, through the Office of the Minister for Integration and Pobal, to roll out the pilot programme, which brought together migrants and Irish citizens, or well-established residents, to spend time together and learn from each other.  The programme was very successful, with participants reporting that the experience had enriched their lives and expressing a wish for it to be made available for others.

People interested in taking part in a mentoring programme, as a mentor or mentee, should contact Crosscare Migrant Project (01 873 2844); Doras Luimni Limerick (061 310328); Dodder Valley (Tallaght) Partnership (01 466 4280); Galway City Partnership (091 773466) or Avondhu Blackwater Partnership Cork (025 33411).  For more information, please contact Research and Integration Officer Fidèle Mutwarasibo – This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

 

Cultural identity to be the focus of April learning lab
DIT’s Forum on Migration and Communications (FOMACs) and the British Council, in association with Instituto Cervantes, will run a public education project, “Learning Lab:  Identities and Social Justice” next month.  The three-day event is the first of three, with others to be held in May and September.  .  The ICI is a partner of FOMACs and will sit on the admission committee for the Learning Lab.

Next month’s Learning Lab will feature Andrea Durbach, Director of the Australian Human Rights Centre at the University of New South Wales’ Law Faculty.  Future sessions will feature Handel Kashope Wright, Director of the Centre for Culture, Identity and Education at the University of British Columbia, Canada and Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, UK-based broadcast journalist, writer and public speaker on race and cultural identities.

The Learning Lab will examine cultural identity and the principles of social equality, looking at issues relating to race, ethnicity, class, sexuality, gender, culture, language, religion and age.  For more information and an application form, please go to www.learninglab.ie

 

ICI welcomes ICTU women’s conference call to tackle trafficking and sexual exploitation
Delegates at the Irish Congress of Trade Unions’ Women’s Conference in Belfast earlier this month unanimously supported a motion urging the Government to adopt measures geared towards the elimination of prostitution.

The ICI welcomes the delegates’ stance, which also called on the Government to learn from the experiences of countries which have established good practice for dealing with sex trafficking, in particular Sweden and Norway, where the purchase of sexual services has been criminalised and the selling of sex decriminalised.

The ICI believes such an approach is crucial to tackle demand for paid sex, which fuels the sex industry in Ireland, into which women and girls are trafficked.

 

Migrant women’s experiences discussed at feminist conference
Anti-Trafficking Coordinator Nusha Yonkova called for greater access to services and long-term immigration status for migrant women who have been living in Ireland for more than five years, when she spoke at the “A Nation In Crisis: Feminist Perspectives” in Dublin last Saturday.

Nusha was asked to talk about issues raised with the ICI by migrant women who use our services.

The conference was jointly hosted by the Feminist Open Forum and the Kilbarrack Community Development Project.  Other activists who addressed the conference included Susan McKay, Director of the National Women’s Council of Ireland, Dr Ursula Barry, from the Women’s Studies Centre, UCD, and Ailbhe Smith, National Coordinator of the Feminist Open Forum.  For more information, please contact Nusha – This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

 

ICI staff member successfully defends his PhD thesis
Research and Integration Officer Fidèle Mutwarasibo successfully defended his PhD thesis earlier this month at University College Dublin.  This was the culmination of the research he began in 2005 on the political participation of migrants in Ireland.  All here at the ICI congratulate Fidèle on his achievement.  For more information, please contact Fidèle – This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it