AMENDED PRESS RELEASE: LAUNCH OF SOUTH DUBLIN MIGRANT INTEGRATION INTEGRATION FORUM

09/11/2011

Archived item. This item is published here for historical reasons. The information below may be out of date.

LAUNCH OF SOUTH DUBLIN MIGRANT INTEGRATION FORUM

BY MAYOR CAITRÍONA JONES

WEDNESDAY 16^TH NOVEMBER 2011

11.00 am – 12.00 pm

On Wednesday, 16th November 2011 at 11.00 am Mayor Ms. Caitríona Jones, will officially launch the South Dublin Migrant Integration Forum at the Council Chamber in County Hall, Tallaght, as part of South Dublin County’s Integration Initiative. The Forum was formed recently by a number of migrant groups in the area in collaboration with South Dublin County Council, Dodder Valley Partnership and CPLN (Clondalkin, Palmerstown, Lucan and Newcastle) Partnership to provide an opportunity to members of the immigrant community in the area to collaborate, network and peer support on social inclusion and cultural diversity. The Forum is supported by the project “Promoting Civic Participation of Third Country Nationals through Local Authority Platforms” (which is funded through the European Integration Fund). Clondalkin Intercultural Choir will provide music entertainment on the morning.

“This Forum is being inaugurated at a time when the increasing diversification of our country has created a need to promote the richness of our diversity and the importance of fostering both the integration of new communities and mutual co-existence between them and the majority population, based on the ethic of equality, mutual respect and care for one another”, stated Issah Husseini, interim chairperson of the Forum and CEO of New Communities Partnership. Processes leading up to the setting up of the Forum began at a workshop organised in December, 2010 in Tallaght by the Social Inclusion Unit, Community Services Department, South Dublin County Council in addition to several monthly meetings held this year.

The mission of the Forum is to serve as a platform to help develop an inclusive, supportive, secure and intercultural community that is based on the principles of equality, diversity, healthy communication, social justice and mutual respect. With membership consisting of migrant community leaders and representatives in the area, the Forum also aims to disseminate information to migrant communities in South Dublin, provide a link between their communities and the local people, promote migrants’ perspectives in policy matters within the County, provide a space where County officials can present topics of interest and inform migrant communities on developments in the County, among others.    

“Through this Forum we wish to hold healthy and constructive conversations with the native population, build bridges across our diverse and differentiated groups and also demonstrate that we all can be different and still be Irish’, commented Forum member and sociologist, Dr. Theophilus Ejorh.

For further information, please contact Maria Finn, Social Inclusion Officer, Community Services Department, South Dublin County Council Tel: 086 3803060/01 4149270 or email at: mfinn@sdublincoco.ie