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This chapter examines Filipino migration to Ireland through the lens of the care industry, informed by the experiences of migrants in a range of occupations and with varied legal statuses. It draws on semi-structured interviews with migrant domestic and care workers, observations of the Domestic Workers Action Group and the work conducted by the Migrant Rights Centre Ireland in this sector. Filipinos in Ireland have often been heralded as an example of successful integration, the example of those in the nursing profession often being cited. This assumption obscures the reality of a large number of Filipinos, working as domestic workers, childminders, cleaners and carers; they often find themselves trapped in the labour market, unable to progress as a consequence of discrimination and often exposed to the exploitation and isolation of low-paid caring occupations. Exclusionary labour migration and family reunification policies have resulted in many remaining undocumented in the state, adding another layer of vulnerability to many of them. This chapter also explores the coping strategies found by the community to overcome some of these structural barriers: these range from community-led initiatives to mechanisms to circumvent discrimination and control.

Opinion columns and pseudo-scientific articles exploring immigration and integration are now the primary channels for overt racism in the Irish media, and their proliferation prompts a necessary exploration of their established form and growing influence. A range of columnists regularly vilify Muslims, Roma and Travellers, particularly drawing on ideas of barbarism, cultural genocide and population control, and defiantly testing the legal limits of incitement to hatred. Constructions of Irish culture as monolithic in the face of an immigration regime which imports failed multiculturalism and racism necessarily position migrants as continuing outsiders and the creators of their own exclusion. Clear connections can be made between racist discourses in Irish media and violence against migrants and ethnic minorities. This chapter explores how Irish media outlets are facilitating and promoting the normalisation of racist discourses, and the implications of this for the construction of debates which take seriously the challenges of integration in practice and in the context of growing anti-immigrant racism.

Polish people currently form the largest ethnic minority in Northern Ireland. Sectarian divides within Northern Irish society have affected how Poles have felt included and excluded in local communities. The focus of this chapter is on perceptions of inclusion and exclusion among Polish migrants in Belfast. It critically examines migrants’ constructions of space in Belfast, which is a city entrenched with social divisions, along lines of religion, ethnicity and class. The chapter draws on longitudinal interviews with fifteen Poles who have lived in Belfast for a decade in Protestant, Catholic and mixed areas of the city. Particular attention is paid to how the Polish migrants make sense of spaces ‘in between’, which include streets, alleyways, sidewalks, bus stops, parks and open spaces. The chapter sheds light on the everyday experiences of exclusion and inclusion and how the perceptions of Polish settlers have shifted over time. It also addresses the reactions of interviewees to changes in social and political attitudes in the UK in the wake of the Brexit vote.

This chapter examines the extent to which Roma have their human rights realised in Ireland from an intersectional perspective. It examines how the operations, interactions and patterns of subordination, including racism and discrimination based on gender, ethnicity and migrant status, are embedded in institutions, legislation and policy, resulting in the exclusion and marginalisation of Roma in Ireland. Using data from the national needs assessment of Roma in Ireland, the experiences of discrimination and exclusion that Roma face across services and in public spaces are discussed, with a particular focus on Roma women. The chapter argues that ‘neutral’ policies combined with a legacy of institutional racism across Europe place many Roma in vulnerable situations. A narrow focus on formal equality and a narrative that ‘equal treatment is synonymous with the same treatment’ is used to legitimise policies that operate to exclude many Roma. Roma are pitched as the ‘problem’ and blamed for the exclusion they face, which is used to fuel further negative stereotypes about the community. Finally this chapter looks at the impact and consequences of institutional racism and exclusion, and Roma responses to this exclusion. It argues that it is crucial to acknowledge systematic structural inequalities and to institutionalise substantive equality to progress Roma rights in Ireland.

Northern Ireland is shifting from a Province focused on ethnic conflict and community polarisation to an increasingly diverse society. The scope for multiple or intersectional identities, however, is limited in the political sphere. This chapter examines the role that political division and power-sharing have played in the lack of significant progress in mainstreaming responses to new migrants (European migrant workers, refugees and asylum seekers), as well as long-established groups (British Asian and Chinese) within social policy in the region, and the political integration of groups outside of the ‘two communities’ in Northern Ireland. The construction of political parties along sectarian lines in Northern Ireland, and a power-sharing system which sees political advantages given to parties which designate as ‘green’ or ‘orange’, validate the fears held by many migrants that they cannot participate in the political process without choosing sides. This compounds the disengagement of minorities in the region and further reduces the accountability of political leaders to them. The social and institutional reinforcement of the two-community narrative inhibits integration and the mainstreaming of minority identity into public policy, which has a deleterious effect on provision of health and social care services, education, employment and social mobility for these groups.

Although not immigrants, the experiences of Travellers – an Irish ethnic minority who have experienced intergenerational racism and discrimination – contextualise the kinds of barrier potentially faced by some immigrants included in this book, particularly in light of the failure of the Irish state to address their experiences as outsiders. A child born to Traveller parents in 2016 is three and a half times less likely to reach their first birthday, and if he or she survives, can expect to live up to fifteen years less than a child born to settled parents. This child ismore likely to develop chronic health conditions, suffer from poor mental health and die by suicide. Health inequalities are indicators of larger social relations that produce asymmetrical differences. They are historically, politically, socially and culturally constructed. In order to understand how Traveller health continues to be phenomenally poorer than that of the settled community, this chapter will examine how mainstream and targeted policies and services have failed to meaningfully address Traveller health inequalities in Ireland. It argues that mainstreaming approaches to health, whereby service providers are ‘oblivious’ to difference, further excludes Travellers from services as they are rendered invisible and their particular needs remain overlooked.

This chapter considers inclusion and exclusion from the perspective of younger immigrants and second-generation members of a long-established religious minority community in the rural West of Ireland. Drawing on the narrative contributions of thirty-three ethnically and culturally diverse Muslim teenagers, it explores the complex dynamics of inclusion and exclusion in school and community settings. The discussion highlights barriers to inclusion faced by Muslim teens while attending school, drawing attention to issues such as dress codes, religious observances and language barriers as being particularly challenging. The discussion also outlines the challenges faced by Muslim teens in negotiating community membership, emphasising intergenerational conflict as an issue affecting daily life. Using a novel categorisation of migrant cohorts, the chapter offers a nuanced analysis which reveals Muslim teens as actively negotiating their positions as ‘insiders’ and/or ‘outsiders’ on an ongoing basis and from a range of available cohort positions. In doing so it highlights the variety of pathways to inclusion employed, as well as the risks of exclusion facing young immigrants.

Chapter 8 concludes that Ireland’s public administration performance in transposition, practical application, enforcement/control and outcomes in the three environmental cases – waste, water and biodiversity have been influenced by the low issue salience of environmental policy objectives, political contestation and historical shortcomings in the capacity of the administrative system to give effect to EU legislation. The nature of EU environmental policy implementation is revisited and explanations provided by the variables – issue salience, goodness of fit, national and local administrative capacity, autonomy of local government, selection of policy instruments and target group behaviour are presented with evidence from the case studies. The cases illustrate substantive learning and many challenges for public administration, which will be heightened by Brexit. The discussion then returns to how implementation is theorised, how we think about what influences its success and failure and how it should be studied.

Chapter 7 highlights the unique features of Ireland’s biodiversity profile and emphasises the importance of its conservation. The discussion explores Ireland’s experience of implementing the birds and habitats directives which form the cornerstone of EU nature policy and its international commitments. Central to their implementation is the creation of a European-wide network of sites for habitats and species called Natura 2000. The chapter illustrates that in Ireland many of these habitats do not reach a favourable status when measured against international and legal obligations to protect biodiversity. Central to explanations of Ireland’s biodiversity conservation approaches is that all stages of implementation of the birds and habitats directives have been subject to high adaptational pressures and conflict between the National Parks and Wildlife Services and stakeholders whose private property can be subject to this legislation. The discussion pays particular attention to the efforts to ban turf cutting on raised boglands in special areas of conservation and the conflict this has sparked.

Chapter 5 discusses the implementation of waste management policy in Ireland. While waste management is a technical area of environmental management, Ireland’s compliance with EU rules has been fraught with political contestation and structural problems. Central to the discussion is the Landfill Directive 1999/31/EC which aims to divert biodegradable waste on a regional basis, and whether Ireland’s implementation of the directive and adherence to the earlier waste framework legislation has been influenced by structural shortcomings in the political-administrative system. In 2005 it was also a focal element of contention in the ECJ judgement against Ireland in Case C-494/01 which referred to Ireland’s failure to adhere to environmental laws and standards as ‘general and persistent in nature’. The case illustrates Ireland’s struggles to respond to environmental management approaches like incineration and increased recycling. Issues addressed in the waste management discussion are the dual roles of local authorities, as both regulators and competitors with the private sector in waste management, and a lingering ambiguity over the right to direct waste.