James Connolly Foundation Activities

Across the Water 2009 Conference Report

About 40 people took part in the Across the Water conference on Friday 5 June at the City Chambers in Edinburgh. Jointly organised by The Connolly Foundation and the City of Edinburgh Council, the conference explored the experience of the Irish community in Edinburgh in the context of equalities legislation.

The conference involved three main speakers and open space workshops on different aspects of the Irish experience both historically and in the current context. Melissa Byrne of The Connolly Foundation chaired the event and introduced the speakers:
Jim Slaven of The Connolly Foundation, Helen Brooks of the City of Edinburgh Council and Nina Giles of Edinburgh and Lothian Racial Equality Council (ELREC).

Jim Slaven's Presentation

Jim Slaven's presentation covered definitions of the Irish community in Scotland and anti-Irish racism. For The Connolly Foundation, the Irish community is a multi-generational ethnic group.

	'Irish' or 'of Irish origin' therefore includes those who were born in Ireland as well as second, third and subsequent generations. This approach is as inclusive as possible. Jim talked about commonalities of experience of Irish people in Scotland, including anti-Irish racism, which is often categorised unhelpfully as sectarianism.

This contributes to a lack of understanding of many of the issues faced by the Irish community and tends to prevent the community's issues being taken seriously in terms of equalities.

Helen Brooks Presentation

Helen Brooks began with the estimate that 4 or 5% of Edinburgh's total population of around 470,000 are Irish however you define the Irish community, it is clearly a significant group. Helen then outlined the council's approach to equalities, which has been recognised in Best Value audits as a key strength. She introduced the council's Equalities,
Diversity and Human Rights Scheme 2009 to 2012, entitled 'Fairness and Respect'.

The scheme has ten outcomes expressed as capabilities, including the capability to be alive, to live in physical security, to be healthy, to be knowledgeable, to participate in decision-making, to enjoy a decent standard of living, to engage in productive and valued activities, to enjoy
individual, family and social life, to be and express yourself, and to be protected and fairly treated by the law.

Nina Giles Presentation

Nina Giles outlined ELREC's aims: to work towards the elimination of racial discrimination; promote equality of opportunity and good relations between persons of different racial groups; and to promote and organise co-operation of the statutory authorities and voluntary organisations.
ELREC provides advice and assistance on racial harassment and discrimination, capacity building work with Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) communities, helps to improve access to mainstream services and works to mainstream race equality within the public sector and other bodies.
She also outlined a number of projects including youth development and counter- terrorism.

	Despite having a remit to tackle racial harassment and discrimination, ELREC has not dealt with any cases in relation to the Irish community. Nina nevertheless invited participants to consider approaching ELREC if they encountered anti-Irish racism. Following the contributions, Melissa introduced a brief question and

answer session where participants asked a number of questions in relation to where the Irish fit in the council's scheme, why Nina thought ELREC had not been approached regarding anti-Irish racism and how the Irish community's experiences were recorded by public bodies.

Workshops

Participants then broke into three open space workshops covering health, identity and ducation/learning. In each they were asked to consider equalities issues and the Irish community. In line with the open space approach, participants were encouraged to circulate amongst the groups and take part in discussions as they felt appropriate.

Participants themselves took responsibility for setting the agenda for each
workshop, with the help of facilitators. A number of quotes, statistics and other extracts from research papers were posted up around the room to stimulate discussion.
During the feedback session afterwards, it was clear that a number of common issues had emerged, particularly around the invisibility of the Irish community in official statistics. Where evidence does
exist, it often points to a different experience for Irish people than the wider community, however very often no information is gathered or monitored and so it is hard to say what the community's experience or position is.

In the feedback from the health workshop, participants had noted that there was a lack of up to date and specific research in relation to mental health, poverty, industrial injury and death, alcoholism and other areas where the Irish may experience particular disadvantage or discrimination. The fragmentation of the community and the lack of specific facilities for Irish
people, as exist for other communities, was also discussed. Given the invisibility of, and hostility to, Irishness there was probably a lack of confidence amongst people in identifying as Irish.

In the feedback from the identity workshop, the idea of the Irish as hidden community which, in contrast to other ethnic groups, is not taken seriously was discussed. The similarities and differences in the experience of the Irish in the west and east of Scotland were also explored. It was also felt that there was a need for education about the Irish community's origins, history and contribution to Scotland, both within the Irish community itself and with the wider community.

In the feedback from the education/learning workshop, the invisibility of the Irish was also discussed, in terms of the lack of statistics on attainment and achievement. Participants asked if there was any room for hybrid identities, e.g. for people to feel Scottish and Irish. Educators, whether in school, college or universities, can stereotype and discriminate against Irish people and a number of experiences were quoted. Finally, arguments for and against Catholic schools were considered.

Connolly Statue Appeal

The day ended with the launch of a financial appeal to raise the £50,000 cost of a statue to James Connolly in Edinburgh and a public campaign to build the necessary political support for the project.

Launching the appeal, Jim Slaven said, 'Erecting a statue to James Connolly in the city of his birth is a fantastic opportunity, not only to honour Connolly but also to acknowledge the contribution of the broader Irish community and other immigrant communities to the development of the city. Edinburgh has dozens of statues, mostly to individuals such as royalty, who have made no positive contribution to Edinburgh. What Edinburgh does not have is monuments to immigrants or the working class. A statue to James Connolly in the city of his birth is long overdue’.

What Next?

Copies of this report will be sent to conference participants. The report will also be sent to ELREC and the City of Edinburgh Council’s equalities staff. The Connolly Foundation will take forward many of the issues raised in partnership with a range of organisations.

Last Word

Participants were very positive in their evaluation of the conference, with the vast majority rating the event overall as very good or excellent. A number of individual comments were made, including:

'Important that conclusions are fed upwards and conclusions are disseminated to help build
debate'
'Highly encouraging. Need to build on the event and on links with other minority communities'
'It's refreshing that the Council welcome the Connolly Foundation into their building for
discussion/forum about racism in Scotland'
'Galvanising, energising event that will influence my personal and professional life'
'Felt part of something. Learnt stuff. A sense of Irish confidence.'