Supporting the Arts Council’s promotion of equality

We are delighted to have been involved in a number of projects with the Arts Council supporting the promotion of equality in the arts sector in Ireland and the implementation of policy changes to fulfil the organisation’s obligations under the Public Sector Equality and Human Rights Duty.

Strategic Evaluation

In 2022, we carried out an evaluation of the Arts Council’s first 3 year Equality, Human Rights and Diversity (EHRD) Policy and Strategy  with Navigo Consulting, including interviews with key staff across all areas of operations and focus groups with artists across all equality grounds.

The Arts Council has in August launched its new Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Implementation Plan 2023–2028 , composed by the Arts Council’s Equality, Diversity, & Inclusion team, drawing on our evaluation and recommendations.

Analysis of Equality Data

In 2023, we conducted an analysis of the 2022 equality data gathered by the Arts Council from all awards scheme applicants. This was published in August.

Read the full report at Equality Data and Arts Council Awards 2022

The following differences are most pronounced, and these strongly reflect the patterns evident in the previous year.

The analysis in this report is based on diversity data submitted as part of applications made to the Arts Council and for Arts Council schemes managed by Create and Arts & Disability Ireland in the year 2022. The diversity of applications and awards are compared in terms of disability, ethnicity, gender, and where possible, geographic location. To understand the relative demographic representativeness of applicants and recipients, each of these metrics have been compared (where possible) to the population of Ireland Census 2022. This report presents a summary of key findings from that analysis.

  • There is a higher proportion of both applicants and recipients who identify as female compared to the general population.
  • Individuals who identify as having a disability are under-represented amongst applicants and recipients compared to the general population.
  • In respect of ethnicity, the rate of application and award is lowest among individuals who identify their ethnic background as Other or Mixed, Asian or Asian Irish, Black or Black Irish, or belonging to the Traveller Community.
  • Geographic spread was uneven, with Dublin was significantly over-represented in terms of proportion of applicants and recipients compared to the population. Cork, Galway, Wicklow, Clare and Sligo were also slightly over-represented in applications.

Arts funding in Ireland: exploring factors affecting grant awards to Black and Black-Irish artists.

In its 2021 Awards Data Report, the Arts Council published data which showed that Black or Black Irish artists made up 1.9% of applications, 1.5% of successful applications, 1.4% of unsuccessful applications, and 4.5% of applications deemed ineligible. The proportion of ineligible applications is higher than any other ethnic or racial group. We undertook research for the Arts Council of Ireland to understand why Black or Black-Irish artists were more likely to be deemed ineligible than other ethnic or racial groups amongst applicants to Arts Council funding.

We investigated a wide range of factors which might contribute to this high rate of ineligible applications. We reviewed a wide literature on barriers faced by minority artists, analysed available application data, and in March 2023, we invited Black and Black-Irish artists to take part in this research on a confidential basis regarding their experience of the application process. Participants in the research interview were compensated for their input by the Arts Council in line with its Paying the Artist policy.

The findings will inform a review of the application process to ensure that decision-making processes are based on best practice and applicants of all backgrounds are treated fairly. A summary report with recommendations which anonymises interview contributions has been shared with the Arts Council.

For more on the Arts Council’s work on equality, see https://www.artscouncil.ie/Equality-Diversity-Inclusion/

Queries about the above publications should be directed to the EDI Unit at www.artscouncil.ie

Migrant Integration: comparing Ireland and Northern Ireland

A new report Comparing migrant integration in Ireland and Northern Ireland was launched on 6 March as part of a series of research papers under the #SharedIsland joint research programme between the Department of Taoiseach’s Shared Island Unit and the ESRI.

This report examines migrant integration in Ireland and Northern Ireland, using information from national and international surveys as well as a consultation event with migrants, their representative groups and other key stakeholders. Migrants are defined as those born outside their country of residence. The report compares the composition of the migrant population in Northern Ireland and Ireland. It considers migrant employment rates and the nature of jobs they hold, as well as migrant-origin young people’s academic outcomes and wellbeing, compared to their native-origin peers. It also considers attitudes to migrants in both jurisdictions, and migrants’ experience of the border in Ireland.

Lucy joined the panel for the launch as one of the report’s external reviewers, along with Councillor Lillian Seenoi-Barr, Derry & Strabane Council, and Ivy Goddard, Director of the Inter Ethnic Forum for Mid & East Antrim, with journalist Sorcha Pollak, author of New to the Parish: Stories of Love, War and Adventure from Ireland’s Immigrants, as moderator.

Read the report’s highlights and download the full report at https://www.esri.ie/news/new-esri-research-highlights-high-employment-among-migrants-in-ireland-and-northern-ireland

https://twitter.com/merrionstreet/status/1632720434352336897?s=20
https://twitter.com/merrionstreet/status/1632710176108167168?s=20

Inequalities in Belfast – full report

We are happy to say that the report Inequalities Experienced by Black, Asian, Minority Ethnic and Traveller people residing in Belfast, produced for Belfast City Council, Belfast Health and Social Care Trust, and Public Health NI, with ACSONI and POLCA, is now available in multiple formats.

Cover of the Research Summary Report

We are happy to say that the report Inequalities Experienced by Black, Asian, Minority Ethnic and Traveller people residing in Belfast, produced for Belfast City Council, Belfast Health and Social Care Trust, and Public Health NI, with ACSONI and POLCA, is now available in multiple formats.

Read the Summary Report online 

Download the report:

 Summary to download (from ACSONI website)

Full Report to download (from ACSONI website)

Get a printed copy:

Printed copies of summary in English, Arabic, Chinese, Polish, Romanian and Somali available from goodrelations@belfastcity.gov.uk.


Download our infographics to share information from the research report


Launch: Inequalities Experienced by Black, Asian, Minority Ethnic and Traveller Residents of Belfast

We are very excited to share our new report being launched today at City Hall Belfast.
The report on Inequalities Experienced by Black, Asian, Minority Ethnic and Traveller Residents of Belfast, was commissioned by Belfast City Council with Belfast Health and Social Care Trust and the Public Health Agency NI. It is the first Council commissioned report of its kind in Belfast.
Our research partners are ACSONI and POLCA.


The research interviews were conducted in English, Arabic, Polish, Romanian, Cantonese and other native languages by a team of peer researchers from minority ethnic and migrant communities in Belfast.


The Executive Summary will be available on the Council website today in multiple languages. The full report PDF will be shared online by research partners and also available on request by email from the Council.

New Know Your Rights Guide for International Protection Applicants in Ireland launch

New Know Your Rights Guide for International Protection Applicants in Ireland launch

A new Know Your Rights guide for international protection applicants has been published by ICCL and the Irish Refugee Council.

The Know Your Rights Guide for International Protection Applicants offers a comprehensive guide to the application process and rights while in Ireland, including in work, education, voting, protection from crime and access to supports.

The Guide also emphasises the fundamental freedoms that all humans have, and how they are protected in Irish law. This includes civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights such as the right to protest, freedom of expression, freedom of religion and the right not to be subjected to inhuman and degrading treatment.

The Guide outlines the current law in a clear and accessible manner to empower international protection applicants to both exercise and vindicate their rights.

The Guide is available at www.iccl.ie/your-rights/

It is currently available online in English, with publication due shortly of French and Arabic versions.

Posters to promote the Guide can be requested from enquiries@lucymichael.ie

The Guide was authored by Dr Niloufar Omidi and Dr Lucy Michael with assistance from Roos Demol, Doireann Ansbro and Sinead Nolan at the Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL), Nick Henderson, Katie Mannion and Alan O’Leary at the Irish Refugee Council (IRC), and Claire O’Riordan and Elizabeth O’Shea at the National Adult Literacy Agency (NALA).

This guide was funded by the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (IHREC).

Special thanks to protection applicants

Special thanks are due to the international protection applicants who gave their time to take part in the feedback groups about this guide. Their thoughtful responses to questions and their discussions helped make this guide as useful as possible. Many thanks also to Zoe Phiri for her assistance in organising
these feedback groups with international protection applicants.
Thanks to case-workers, advisors and others Many thanks also to the case-workers and advisors at the following non-governmental organisations
who provided invaluable advice and assistance: Doras, Crosscare, Movement of Asylum Seekers in Ireland (MASI), Jesuit Refugee Service (JRC), New Communities Partnership (NCP) and Migrant Rights Centre Ireland (MRCI).

Poster showing booklet cover and parts – available on request

Launch of our new Guide for Practitioners on the Home Office Indicators of Integration Framework by IOM

IOM Guide for Practitioners on the Home Office Indicators of Integration Framework

The International Organization for Migration – UN Migration (IOM) has launched a new Guide for Practitioners on the Home Office Indicators of Integration Framework 2019 at a well  attended online event hosted by the South East Strategic Migration Partnership on 16 March.

The Indicators of Integration (IOI) framework, published in 2019 by the UK Home Office, is designed to create a shared understanding of integration, how to measure its progress, and considerations for strategic planning. With a suite of tools including a comprehensive bank of indicators and guidance on data collection, the IOI framework seeks to support those assisting migrants in improving interventions across a range of key areas.

IOM, in partnership with the Home Office and DISC initiative, has been supporting local authorities, statutory partners and civil society organisations in building their capacity to use the framework through a process of consultations with staff in each sector tailored face-to-face and online trainings, and the development of the Guide for Practitioners on the Home Office Indicators of Integration Framework 2019.


Dr Lucy Michael, co-author of the IOI framework, has led the training work and is the author of this new Guide. The Guide informs practitioners about the use of the IOI framework in integration measurement and interventions, and how you can use it in your activities, and provides a signposted step-by-step learning process to support practitioners to implement the framework in their planning, delivery and evaluation of integration projects. 

Download the guide here

Newly published: Immigrants as Outsiders in the two Irelands

Edited by Bryan Fanning and Lucy Michael

BOOK INFORMATION

  • Format: Paperback
  • ISBN: 978-1-5261-4559-8
  • Pages: 272
  • Publisher: Manchester University Press
  • Price: £20.00
  • Published Date: July 2019

Immigrants as outsiders in the two Irelands examines how a wide range of immigrant groups who settled in the Republic of Ireland and in Northern Ireland since the 1990s are faring today. It asks to what extent might different immigrant communities be understood as outsiders in both jurisdictions. Chapters include analyses of the specific experiences of Polish, Filipino, Muslim, African, Roma, refugee and asylum seeker populations and of the experiences of children, as well as analyses of the impacts of education, health, employment, housing, immigration law, asylum policy, the media and the contemporary politics of borders and migration on successful integration. The book is aimed at general readers interested in understanding immigration and social change and at students in areas including sociology, social policy, human geography, politics, law and psychology.


CONTENTS

1. Immigrants and other Outsiders – Bryan Fanning and Lucy Michael
2. Traveller health inequalities as legacies of exclusion – Ronnie Fay
3. Sectarian legacies and the marginalisation of migrants – Bethany Waterhouse-Bradley
4. Institutional responses to racism in both Irelands – Bryan Fanning and Lucy Michael
5. African asylum seekers and refugees in both Irelands – Fiona Murphy and Ulrike M. Vieten
6. African non-employment and labour market disadvantage – Philip O’Connell
7. Lives of Filipino-Irish careworkers – Pablo Rojas Coppari
8. Polish spaces in a divided city – Marta Kempny
9. Experiences of racism in social housing – Teresa Buczkowska and Bríd Ni Chonaill
10. Roma rights and racism – Siobhan Curran
11. Normalising racism in the Irish media – Lucy Michael
12 Children and young people on the margins – Patricia Brazil, Catherine Cosgrave and Katie Mannion
13 Immigrant-origin children and the education system – Merike Darmody and Frances McGinnity
14. Young Muslims as insiders and outsiders – Orla McGarry
15 Brexit, borders and belonging – Bryan Fanning
16. Hyphenated citizens as outsiders – Bashir Otukoya
17 Shades of belonging and exclusion – Bryan Fanning and Lucy Michael
Select bibliography
Index

Further details at https://www.manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9781526145598/