How People Live their Lives in an Intercultural Society

Report from the European Cultural Foundation's Irish Committee on the cultural impact of migration in Ireland.

With a population comprising 11% of non-Irish nationals from 118 countries, including significant numbers from some Asian countries, migration has a strong effect on Irish society.

Culture is the total pattern of human behaviour. It is the way in which we live. Since we share our world with others, the climate of our lives constantly changes as we influence them and they affect us.

For many years, the Irish Committee of the European Cultural Foundation has been involved in exploring the cultural impact of migration on the Irish in Britain and on the more recent arrivals from the rest of the world into Ireland. Others have reported on the social, medical and economic realities as reflected in the relevant statistics. The approaches do not clash.

The report which follows is the result of conversations between people living in Ireland who have different roots. It becomes apparent that many aspects of an individual’s life – such as being a parent or playing a sport or being a member of a religion – have special effects on one’s attitudes to the cultural environment.

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