| Description |
Ireland has undergone a remarkable demographic transition in the last twenty years. In the early 1990s, it was a largely homogenous state. By 2011, however, some 12 percent of the Irish population were nationals of other countries. This paper provides a concise summary of the Irish stateﾒs attempts to integrate its sizeable but relatively recent immigrant population. It first examines how the state reacted to the significant rise in asylum seekers that occurred in the late 1990s and the early 2000s. It then turns its attention towards the stateﾒs response to the arrival of hundreds of thousands of economic migrants, particularly after the enlargement of the EU in 2004. The state initiated several positive strategies in the 2000s but few resources have been dedicated to integration since late 2008, when Ireland experienced a serious economic recession. The impetus for integration has, instead, been left to local authorities and NGOs. Yet they have also suffered from severe state cuts to their budgets as a result of the crisis. Consequently, the outlook for the integration of Irelandﾒs extensive immigration community remains uncertain.
|