Northern Ireland’s population has consistently increased over the past two decades, bringing with it a multitude of cultures, languages, and religions. Recent statistics indicate that 3.4% of the population now belongs to ethnic minority groups, the largest of which are mixed, black, Indian, Chinese, and Filipino.
The increasing diversity in Northern Ireland has been welcomed by many, but support groups argue that authorities must do more to make minorities feel like they belong.
Since moving to the north coast from England ten years ago, Rachel James has struggled to acclimatise to feeling like an outsider.
She said, “I’m confident in who I am and my skin tone, but all of a sudden I felt very different.” “When I first arrived… I could walk up Coleraine’s main street without seeing any other ethnicity, let alone black people. But now, when I walk up the high street, I don’t recognise every non-white person, which is wonderful and distinct.”
Ms James, a cultural ambassador at the Building Communities Resource Centre in Ballymoney, County Antrim, thinks that Northern Ireland needs to do more to make minorities feel at home, even though it has improved.
The project manager of the Armagh Traveller Support Group, Fidelma Fearon, asserts that despite progress made for newcomers and asylum seekers, the Traveller community has changed very little.She said, “We have accomplished very little when it comes to the Traveller community, but I’m confident there’s much more to be done.” It is impossible to marry into the Traveller community, so nothing has changed for the Traveller community. If anything, it appears to be regressing.”
Mary Lafferty Koyyalamudi, manager of refugee assistance at Empowering Refugees and Newcomers Organisation, thinks that we should do more in the areas of education and integration work.
Ms. Lafferty remarked, “It’s wonderful because it brings new diversity to areas that were dying in rural and suburban areas.” “For the most part, the locals are as cordial and hospitable as they always have been, but sometimes they stop there. I believe we need to do a great deal more in terms of education, integration work, and integrating the newly arriving refugees, migrants, and asylum seekers.”
Northern Ireland is becoming more diverse, but support organisations are advocating for additional efforts to ensure that minorities feel welcome and can integrate into their new communities. Locals and newcomers can reconcile any cultural divide and establish a more inclusive society by working together.
