MORE THAN 50 per cent of economic migrants living in rural Ireland intend to remain in the State despite the downturn, and more work needs to be done to integrate them into their communities, according to a report published yesterday.
The report, Reaching Out: Supporting the Integration of Non-Irish Nationals in Rural Ireland, was launched by Irish Rural Link which campaigns for sustainable rural communities.
It found the Republic had a “highly-dispersed settlement pattern” when compared to other EU countries where immigrants tended to be concentrated in towns and cities.
However, it said foreign nationals across rural Ireland were being isolated “due to a mutual lack of understanding”.
The report highlighted the risk of exploitation in connection with pay, accommodation and access to services, and said the absence of public transport and support services in rural areas “further increases the risk of isolation”.
The report was compiled by community researcher Aine Egan, who said media coverage of immigration tended to create the impression that non-Irish nationals “just live in the urban centres”.
“The census figures show this not to be the case.”
She said there was an assumption that a lot of the newcomers were part of a transient society and they would leave. This needed to be challenged. “Diversity is here to stay.”
She warned that in an economic downturn “the race card can often be played, and we need to be aware that when people feel insecure about their own employment they often look for scapegoats. Migrants who themselves might be in insecure jobs are doubly at risk.”
Irish Rural Link chief executive Séamus Boland said the downturn had made things more difficult for all rural communities.
“We should be very careful not to take it out on people who we regard as foreign. The reality is that unemployment is there for all of us. For many of the non-Irish nationals living in rural areas, the thought of going back to Dublin or their home country would be like starting at the beginning.”
He said the report sets out steps that rural communities needed to take to reach out to “new arrivals” and expressed the hope that it would show people the importance of extending a welcome through all the social avenues open to them.
