Posts Tagged Ethnicity

Should the Irish government recognize Travellers as an ethnic group?

April 20, 2013 at 2:20 pm · Filed under Ethnicity ·Tagged , , , , , , , ,

By Patrick Counhihan for Irish Central 

The Council of Europe has warned that Ireland needs to take action on discrimination against the Travelling community in the workplace – and wants Travellers recognized as an ethnic minority.

The Council has issued a report on what it calls the ‘de facto exclusion of members of the Travelling community in Ireland from the labour market.’

The Irish Times reports on the Council’s research into Ireland’s implementation of the European treaty on the protection of national minorities.

The paper says the human rights watchdog found that members of the Travelling community continue to experience discrimination in accessing the labour market and health services in Ireland.

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Is there more to Irishness than pints, crisps, funerals and not being British?

December 20, 2011 at 6:41 pm · Filed under Identity ·Tagged , , , , , , ,

An article from the Irish Times touches upon this question.  Essentially Shane Hegarty discusses a new book titled Stuff Irish People Love.  For Hegarty, if there is a thread in the book, ‘it is a longing to live up to the stereotype of a mischievous bunch, simultaneously baffling and charming outsiders. It’s how the world wants to see us, so why fight it? Although, you wonder if the world is just being polite to us. Given the preponderance of alcohol, crisp sandwiches and fried food in these books, perhaps number one on the world’s list of things Irish people love is “having bad breath’.

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What does it mean to ‘be Irish’?

October 25, 2011 at 1:41 pm · Filed under Construction of reality ·Tagged , , , ,

Check out these images from an exhibition recently covered by the Irish Times.  It brings up the issue of ‘Irish identity’ and, more specifically, the matter of ‘being Irish’.  It ties into the topic of Week 3, which is the social construction of reality.

What are the common themes in these pictures?

Click here to view.

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