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The Government has agreed on a new strategy to engage a “broad and inclusive” Irish diaspora and accept the need to “heal relationships” with migrants who left Ireland in crisis.
The plan identifies Irish people who left because of discrimination or as victims of institutional abuse.
Its aim is to shed the stereotypical view of the diaspora and reflect the diversity of contemporary Irish overseas communities connected to Ireland through ‘citizenship, heritage and affinity’.
The strategy document, titled Ireland’s Diaspora Strategy 2020-2025, is released today as part of the Department of Foreign Affairs’ Global Ireland program.
The plan aims to engage a “contemporary diaspora” that includes Irish citizens living abroad, both those born in Ireland and those born abroad to Irish families, as well as the millions of people of Irish descent around the world. they are part of the “diaspora heritage.”
The Government hopes to appeal to the ‘reverse diaspora’ (people who have lived, studied or worked in Ireland before returning to their home countries) and the ‘affinity diaspora’, which it defines as people who have a deep appreciation for the Irish. places and culture.
The last government’s commitment to hold a referendum on the granting of voting rights to Irish citizens living out of state in presidential elections is reaffirmed in this government’s plan.
Foreign Minister Simon Coveney said that the intention to hold the referendum on voting on presidential ballots starting in 2025 “underscores the importance that the Government attaches to making the Presidency an office that truly represents all citizens. from Ireland”.
Plans to hold a referendum stalled amid Brexit concerns last year and due to the general election earlier this year, but legislation scheduling the vote remains pending from the Oireachtas.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin has said that a central aspect of the new diaspora strategy was “a deep appreciation of the deep importance of connection.”
The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic had put a “renewed emphasis” on the diaspora’s relationship and ties with Ireland, he said.
The Government said the strategy reflects its commitment to legal migration to the US and solutions for “undocumented Irish citizens”, to promote opportunities for the next generation of the diaspora to work and study in Ireland and address barriers faced by returning migrants.
The strategy aims to increase contacts with traditionally under-represented groups, such as Irish travelers and Irish people of mixed descent, and to support LGBT + people in the diaspora.
It plans to promote inclusive events for Irish communities that are “respectful of non-Irish family members or members of local communities who wish to participate.”
Noreen Bowden, co-founder of VotingRights.ie, a group that promotes voting rights for the diaspora, said it was “encouraging” to see a new commitment to the referendum.
“It seems more important than ever, now that we are all facing the tremendous challenges associated today with Brexit, the pandemic and even democracy itself, that we work to strengthen our relationship and commitment to each other as citizens,” he said.
Allowing Irish citizens abroad to vote for president “would strengthen the bond between Ireland and Irish abroad” and “foster an even stronger sense of belonging and civic responsibility among the diaspora.”
“It would also further reinforce the importance of the presidency for all Irish people, on the island of Ireland and abroad,” said Ms Bowden, who lives in the United States.
The new strategy was “an exciting step” and the referendum “could play a key role in ensuring that the relationship between Ireland and the Irish abroad continues to grow and deepen.”
Brendan Fay: There is “a generation that fled Ireland because of their experience of discrimination”
The government has said that the strategy covers a commitment to ensure “that the most vulnerable in our communities abroad are supported.” The plan says the government will support measures and organizations that “protect the dignity and well-being of Irish migrants.”
Britain is home to large numbers of survivors of institutional abuse in Ireland. Almost 40 per cent of the people who testified to the Child Abuse Commission of Inquiry lived in Britain.
Brendan Fay, a longtime US resident and equal rights advocate for the Irish LBGT community in New York, said it was “very deep” and “long overdue” recognition to acknowledge members of the diaspora who saw each other. ” forced to flee “Ireland because of discrimination or crisis.
He said that there was “a generation that fled Ireland and is scattered all over the world because of their experience of discrimination that they lived with every day and found it suffocating.”
Fay praised the government for embracing “the most painful stories, the scars people left and the wounds of emigration” where, in the past, political leaders often only looked to the diaspora to celebrate the most successful stories of emigration. irish.
“Perhaps government leaders, by recognizing this, are touching something and deepening and rethinking the diaspora which, in addition to celebrating the contributions of the Irish abroad, is recognizing the wounds and scars that people carry,” he said.
Ireland was just beginning to recognize the stories of women who fled Ireland after spending their lives in institutions, Fay said. He noted the “silence” surrounding other experiences of the Irish abroad, including those “who were sent to America as babies.”
“Perhaps this is the beginning of a significant moment in Irish history of acknowledging the diaspora who were forced to flee, who did not choose and who are always left with this anguish and longing for home,” he said.
“It is a loss for Ireland. I’ve often told people that I had to go home. “
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