Learning From The Neighbours: Multiculturalism in Ireland and the UK
The twenty-first century has witnessed rapid changes around the world, perhaps nowhere more than in Ireland. In recent years, Ireland has become multi-ethnic, multi-religious and multicultural, transforming the place into something akin to its British neighbour.
But, whilst Irish diversity has its own unique character that is untainted by a legacy of Empire, not everyone is at ease with the rapidly changing face of Ireland. So what does the diversity of Irishness look like today and what are the problems facing those at the forefront? And how does this compare to the experiences of their British neighbours? Can lessons be learned from each other?
Join Trinity Dublin Professor and writer Philomena Mullen and Queen's University Belfast lecturer historian Kieran Connell for an evening of discussion and insights, chaired by author and broadcaster Emer O’Neill.
Book your free ticket at events-epdublin@europarl.europa.eu
Kieran Connell is a writer and historian from Birmingham, England. He is of Irish and German heritage and went to primary school in Balsall Heath, one of the most ethnically-diverse neighbourhoods in the country. His first book, Black Handsworth: Race in 1980s Britain (2019) was shortlisted for the Whitfield Prize, while his latest book, Multicultural Britain: A People’s History, is an attempt to understand how Britain became the multicultural society it is today. The book is the fruits of Connell’s journey across four previously overlooked cities – Cardiff, Nottingham, Bradford and Birmingham – and shines a light on how increasing ethnic diversity has been experienced by ordinary people in Britain over a seventy-year period. Shaped by Connell’s own experiences in Balsall Heath, Multicultural Britain calls for us to move beyond the tired notion that multiculturalism has ‘failed’ and instead reckon with the fundamental diversity of Britain’s past, present and future.
Dr Philomena Mullen is a graduate from Trinity College Dublin and is currently Assistant Professor of Black Studies in the Department of Sociology and deputy director of the MPhil in Race, Ethnicity, Conflict. She spent eighteen years working in the NGO sector, much with the Irish Traveller Movement. She was a member of the National Consultative Committee on Racism and Interculturalism (NCCRI) and formerly an Irish representative on the European Network against Racism (ENAR). She returned to Trinity College in 2016 to undertake a PhD and was awarded a Government of Ireland scholarship to examine the racist and racialised aspects of how Black, mixed-race women who grew up in the Irish industrial school system, without families, constructed their identity. Her research focuses on processes of ‘race’ and racialisation in Ireland, highlighting the presence and voices of children of African–Irish descent in Irish institutions in the twentieth century, and recovering the historical presence of people of African descent in Ireland and in Trinity College Dublin pre-Celtic Tiger. She is co-chair of the Race, Ethnicity and Equality Working Group in Trinity College, and sits on the advisory board of Trinity Colonial Legacies Project. She is a Trustee of the Association of Mixed Race Irish (AMRI), and a member of African Scholars Association of Ireland (AFSAI). She is also a member of the UN IDPAD steering committee set up to work with the Irish state to implement programmes for the Decade of People of African Descent 2015-2024.
Emer O’Neill is an Irish author, educator and broadcaster, known for her honest and engaging approach to conversations around race, identity, neurodiversity and mental health. She has a been teaching secondary school for fifteen years and has a Masters in Education.
She became a familiar face on RTÉ’s Home School Hub, where she brought warmth, openness and a strong focus on inclusion. She has a children's show called Keep It Up, a six-part series about keeping girls in sport and has broadcast the St. Patrick's Day parade live from Dublin, City Centre for the last four years on our national TV station RTE. Her debut children’s book, The Same but Different, encourages young readers to embrace their differences and celebrate what makes them unique. Drawing on her personal experience growing up as mixed-race in Ireland, Emer speaks openly about belonging, representation and the importance of feeling seen. She now runs ‘The Same but Different’ workshops in schools, universities and at a corporate level across Ireland, helping people explore unconscious bias, empathy and allyship in a safe, supportive space. Through her work, Emer continues to spark important conversations and champion real, lasting change in how we think about diversity and inclusion.
This event is in partnership with Speaking Volumes through their Breaking Ground Ireland Arts Council England funded project, with additional funding from Coastal Carolina University.
