ICI News Bulletin - Issue 59
1. New Year, new information outreach sessions
2. Think-in to investigate impact of citizenship and identity
3. Mentoring Programme to reach out across Ireland
4. ICI backs End Prostitution Now campaign
5. Pathways to Parental Leadership advisory committee meets
6. Meeting of transnational partners in school integration project
7. ICI analyses Irish immigration law for European project
8. Integration “at risk of being overlooked” during downturn, conference hears
New Year, new citizenship information outreach sessions
The Immigrant Council of Ireland has forged partnerships with local community organisations to host regional information outreach sessions on applying for citizenship in Ireland.
The sessions will also serve as a public opinion forum and allow those attending, who may have already applied for, or have received decisions, the opportunity to offer feedback on their experiences of the citizenship application process. The sessions are open to everyone and free to attend. However, places are limited and people interested in attending should contact the local organisers:
Sligo: January 25, Glass House Hotel, Sligo, 7.30pm. RSVP: Josette Newman, Sligo Leader Partnership, 071-914 1138
Tallaght: January 25, Dodder Valley Partnership, Killinarden Enterprise Park, Tallaght, 5:30pm. RSVP by text: Zuzana Tesarova, 086-067 8316
Dundalk: January 26, Community Office Louth Leader Partnership, Dundalk, 6:30pm. RSVP: Marian Finnegan, 042-933 0288.
Balbriggan: February 3, Balbriggan Combined Clubs, Dublin Street, Balbriggan, 10am. RSVP: Pauline McNamee, Fingal Leader Partnership, 01-802 0484.
A session planned for Cork for today was postponed and a new date will be confirmed later. The session in Balbriggan will also provide information on the process for renewing residence permits under the IBC scheme.
Think-in to investigate impact of citizenship and identity
The ICI will host a think-in on citizenship and identity and their implications for public discourse on integration on February 23. The think-in will bring together members of civil society, academics, policy makers and migrants.
The morning session will kick off with the keynote speech, “Mainstreaming Members of Suspect Communities: Prospects for Forging Pluralist Identity in Ireland”, by Professor Mary Hickman from London Metropolitan University. This will be followed by facilitated discussions.
The afternoon session will focus on the work of the ICI with input by Senior Solicitor Catherine Cosgrave and Research and Information Officer Fidèle Mutwarasibo. For more information, please contact Fidèle - fidele@immigrantcouncil.ie.
Mentoring Programme to reach out across Ireland
The ICI is rolling out its Mentoring Programme across the country, after the success of its pilot programme and the launch of the Guide to Running a Mentoring Programme last month.
Expansion of the programme will involve working with other NGOs in their delivery of mentoring programmes in their local communities at five sites across Ireland.
The project is funded by the European Fund for the Integration of Third Country Nationals through the Office of the Minister for Integration and administered by Pobal. For more information, please contact Fidèle - fidele@immigrantcouncil.ie
ICI backs End Prostitution Now campaign
The ICI has announced its support for the End Prostitution Now campaign in Scotland (www.endprostitutionnow.org). The campaign was launched in December 2009 and pushes for amendments to proposed and existing legislation in Scotland, which will create a range of offences designed to target the purchase of sex. These offences would affect those who buy or seek to buy sex, those who arrange or advertise the sale of sex and those who provide accommodation where the sale of sex takes place.
This campaign follows in the footsteps of the Demand Change! campaign (www.demandchange.org.uk) in England, which successfully lobbied for the introduction of legislation to criminalise the purchase of sex from a trafficked or pimped individual. The Immigrant Council of Ireland supports this campaign and the measures proposed, which are in line with the recommendations of the ICI report “Globalisation Sex Trafficking and Prostitution: The experiences of migrant women in Ireland”.
For more information, please contact Anti-Trafficking Co-ordinator Nusha Yonkova – nusha@immigrantcouncil.ie
Pathways to Parental Leadership advisory committee meets
The ICI will host an advisory committee meeting of the Pathways to Parental Leadership project on Monday (January 25). The meeting will focus on school ethos at primary school level. Guest speakers will include Deirdre Sullivan (National Parents Council - Primary), Paul Rowe (Educate Together) and Rev Dr Norman Gamble (Church of Ireland).
The meeting will inform the development of a toolkit to promote migrant parents’ involvement in the school life of their children.
Meeting of transnational partners in school integration project
The ICI will host the second Transnational Steering Committee Meeting of the Pathways to Parental Leadership initiative at UCD on February 22.
The committee’s membership includes partners from Portugal, Denmark, Germany, Spain, Scotland and Italy. The international partners will be joined by some members of the advisory committee.
The meeting will focus on the preliminary results of research involving 15 members of staff of the five schools participating in the project and 25 migrant parents, and include discussions on the outline of a toolkit aimed at developing and fostering migrant parents’ involvement in their children’s school life.
This project is funded by Network of European Foundations for Innovative Cooperation - NEF through the European Programme for Integration and Migration - EPIM. For more information on the project and the event, please contact Research Intern Lucy Jessel - research_intern@immigrantcouncil.ie
ICI analyses Irish immigration law for European project
The Immigrant Council of Ireland has joined forces with the British Council and the Migration Policy Group in Europe-wide project measuring the immigration policies in all 27 EU Member States and two non-EU member States.
The MIPEX project aims to develop partnerships to create an inclusive Europe by stimulating a well-informed, cross-national debate on topical issues of integration policies for third-country nationals. The MIPEX study provides a common research tool accessible for stakeholders to compare, monitor and influence policy change. The project will measure Member States’ immigration policies by using more than 120 indicators to create a complete picture of migrants’ opportunities to enter a Member State. It covers four categories of workers (ordinary temporary workers, self-employed workers, seasonal workers and highly-skilled workers) and international students.
Senior Solicitor Catherine Cosgrave has just completed the questionnaire on Ireland. For more information, please contact Catherine – catherine@immigrantcouncil.ie
Integration “at risk of being overlooked” during downturn, conference hears
Information and Referral Service Coordinator Brian Killoran represented the ICI at last month’s CLIP (Cities for Local Integration Policies) Network in Brussels.
The two-day conference, “Intercultural approaches to community-building and cohesion in European cities”, focused on shared learning on how to manage migration and diversity in times of an economic downturn. Attendees ranged from representatives of NGOs and faith groups working with migrants and EU policy makers to various State agencies with a remit in the area, such as a number of City Councils, including Dublin City Council.
The conference showcased examples of how local integration policies, often enacted with scarce resources and in a politically difficult environment, can have extremely positive effects and set firm foundations for the future. Speakers also reaffirmed the need to ensure integration efforts are not abandoned in times of economic downturn, or in the face of a threat of rising anti-immigration sentiment across Europe.
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