AFRICANS IN IRELAND

Africans in Ireland

Table of Content

Introduction4

Basic Facts4

Ireland4

Demographics5

Black communities and ethnic minorities in Northern Ireland5

Culture and language6

Living and Places of Concentration7

History7

Political Aspect9

Legislation against discrimination9

Political rights10

Conclusion11

References12

Abstract

This research paper focuses on two parts. First it explicates the basic facts regarding the Black African community which is a minority group in Ireland. The Second part comprises of the political facts regarding this minority group. For the first time in 1997, a legal protection was granted to black communities and minorities ethnic groups in Ireland against discrimination on “racial grounds”. The official languages are Irish and English. Black communities and ethnic minorities are 1.5% of the total population of Northern Ireland. Languages spoken by the African community is s Yoruba, Igbo, the Hausa language, Kanuri, Irish and English. African literature is characterized by both indigenous oral and written literatures. African literature is written in both African and European languages. Commission for Racial Equality eliminates "racial" discrimination. Despite the presence of "racial" racism and discrimination in daily life, black and minority ethnic communities in Belfast and Northern Ireland have no protection.

Africans in Ireland

Introduction

For the first time in 1997, a legal protection was granted to black communities and minorities ethnic groups in Ireland against discrimination on “racial grounds”. During number of years, we have learned about the experiences of these individuals and the difficulties they encounter in everyday life. African community in Ireland faces huge challenges and discrimination in employment, paying particular attention to mechanisms, discriminations in legislative and structural issues that have been established to combat discrimination (Allen, 2000)

Basic Facts

Ireland

Ireland, which is also known as the Republic of Ireland is a member state of the European Union, established as a republic independent and sovereign. It covers approximately five-sixths of the ' homonymous island situated to the north - west of the western coast of ' Europe. The only country with which Ireland has surrounded is UK, which retains its sovereignty over the remaining sixth of the island, known as Northern Ireland, including six of the nine counties of the historic province of Ulster. The state, initially the Irish Free State, was founded on December 6, 1922 as a dominion within the British Commonwealth following the Anglo-Irish Treaty that ended the Irish War of Independence. It gained more sovereignty through the Statute of Westminster in 1931 and the crisis following the ' abdication of Edward VIII in 1936.

Demographics

The majority of the Irish is an ethnic Celtic, with a substantial minority of Anglo-Saxon and Norse. One of the minority groups include that of Africans who were mainly emigrated from Nigeria. The official languages are Irish and English. Road signs are bilingual, except in areas of Gaeltacht, where there is only Irish. The national media often use the language of Ireland. The areas where Irish is spoken (the Gaeltacht) are well-defined regions more or less extensive, located mostly on the west coast (Foster, 1988)

In contrast and contrary to the conservation of identity and national tradition, Celtic should be noted, since the mid nineties onwards, ...