Dundalk Show Racism the Red Card

Dundalk FC hosted an impressive Show Racism the Red Card event today, at Dundalk Institute of Technology with over 120 attending including pupils from 8 schools and representatives of the community in Dundalk and Co Louth.




People were in attendance from the following groups, Chamber of Commerce, Dundalk Town Council, Sports Recreation Center, Louth County Council, DKIT, Carroll Village Asylum Seekers, Louth African Women's Group, Polish and Eastern European Group, Muslim Group, Nigerian Rep, NCCRI, FAI, Red Card Group, Argus Newspaper, Democrat Newspaper, LMFM Radio, Basketball Ireland and Dundalk Ravens, Ice Dome and Dundalk Bulls, Dundalk Football Club, School Liaison Officers and local primary and secondary schools in Dundalk.

full text>

Navan School Show Racism the Red Card

Drogheda United and Show Racism the Red Card received an enthusiastic greeting from the pupils at Oliver Plunkett's National School, Navan, Co Meath in a lively interactive session as part of the school intercultural festival.














October 23rd saw the second day of the Intercultural Festival at Oliver Plunkett's NS in Navan. Show Racism the Red Card visited the school with Drogheda United star players Shane Barrett and Declan O' Brien. Stephen Ojo from Eagleswing FC Drogheda organised a football tournament for the youngsters.

The school has more than 600 pupils from 30 nations across five continents. The EAL (English as an Additional Language) teachers and the school organised this as the schools third festival which aims to create greater intercultural understanding.

When Show Racism the Red Card came to the school on the second day, the various activities were evident in the art work on the walls and various other pieces.
There was a travellers wagon, Brazilian drummer and lots of other activities on the first day.














On the second day, Stephen Ojo organised a football tournament for all classes and then at 11 am, almost 400 pupils crowded into the school hall for a joint presentation of Show Racism the Red Card and Drogheda United.

The Show Racism the Red Card DVD was shown and pupils were given the opportunity to ask a panel including Drogs captain Declan O' Brien, Shane Barrett and Stephen Ojo. We revealed to the students that Stephen had been a professional footballer and asked him about his career.

Stephen said he played with FC Groningen for five years. He joined when they were in the 3rd Division and left when they were in the 1st Division. The pupils responded with a spontaneaous round of loud applause.

Declan O'Brien was asked who his favourite team are to which he stated the obvious- Drogheda United. Shane Barrett was: 'Well I am from Meath, so I guess Meath is my favourite team'. The audience went wild with appreciation.













There were also serious questions from the young people including a question as to how racism began, to which Stephen Ojo answered. The players stayed for a while to chat to pupils informally and have their photos taken. Pupils from the finalist teams in the tournament were presented with medals brought by Drogheda United's Club Promotion Officer. Every pupil in the school received a Drogheda United Show Racism the Red Card poster.

Overall, this was a hugely enjoyable event combining fun and conversation with a serious message. Activities for the event were supported by the school, by the local sports partnership and the local district league. It is a great way to introduce Show Racism the Red Card to a school. Our DVD education pack will be an ongoing resource in the new year.

full text>

Introduction to GAA for Adult immigrants

Show Racism the Red Card in association with Dublin City Council, DCU GAA Academy and the Gaelic Players Association presents: An opportunity to learn Gaelic Football from one of the best players of the game.
Introduction%20to%20Gaelic%20Football.doc



Dublin City Council, DCU GAA Academy, Show Racism the Red Card and the Gaelic Players Association have joined together to offer adult immigrants an opportunity to learn Gaelic football from one of the leading lights of the sport.

Dublin Senior footballer Paul Casey will be the coach delivering the introduction plays his club football with Lucan Sarsfield an area which has exploded over recent years with many immigrant people in the area.

Paul features in the forthcoming Show Racism the Red Card DVD which will be used in schools from January:

When asked about Diversity in his local area of Lucan and its impact on his GAA club Lucan Sarsfield, Paul reckons it has been immense and says 'We are getting young players from immigrant backgrounds into the club. Some of them are very good and I have no doubt that some will be inter county stars of the future'.

Garrett Mullan Co-ordinator of the project said: 'There is a lot of integration occuring at underage level. It can be difficult for adults to be part of GAA for all sorts of reasons. This evening introduction will be an opportunity to allow people who have never played Gaelic football before to try it out and if they like it, we will have representatives from a number of clubs local to DCU present to introduce themselves. I am sure it will be a lot of fun'.

He added: 'This is a pilot project and if successful, we may approach other local authorities with a view to a similar initiative. There can be no better introduction to Gaelic football than from an intercounty player and local clubs will be welcoming of new members'.

The course is due to take place in early December and we are inviting expressions of interest at this stage. Please email info@theredcard.ie or fill out registration downloadable from our website.

full text>

Diverse Ireland struggles to educate its population

More diverse Ireland struggles to educate its population
Economic boom attracts legions of immigrants
By Kevin Sullivan, Washington Post | November 4, 2007


More diverse Ireland struggles to educate its population
Economic boom attracts legions of immigrants
By Kevin Sullivan, Washington Post | November 4, 2007

BALBRIGGAN, Ireland - Happy little learners filed out of school at midday, smiling in their furry jackets and clutching a parent's hand. It could have been anywhere in Ireland, except that almost every child had immigrant parents - the vast majority of them black - from places as distant as Angola, Congo, and Zimbabwe.

Bracken Educate Together National School was opened last month as an emergency measure after education officials realized they had no school places for scores of local children, almost all of them Irish-born children of immigrants.

The opening of Ireland's first predominantly black school, in this suburban town just north of Dublin, illustrates the pressures facing once-sleepy Ireland as its population and economy boom. Once almost entirely white and Catholic, the country is struggling to integrate hundreds of thousands of new immigrants and to provide them with education, health, welfare, and transportation services as fast as they arrive.

"This is the front line in all this," said Gerry McKevitt, an administrator at the Balbriggan school, looking around its temporary home in a summer retreat house for urban children. "This is where the problems are emerging. This is where integration is going to happen or not."

After 150 years of population decline as native Irish fled dire economic conditions, Ireland is now one of Europe's fastest-growing and most prosperous nations. The white-hot "Celtic Tiger" economy of recent years has leveled off, but Ireland continues to be a magnet for immigrants.

The nation's population is just over 4.1 million, its highest level since before the famine years of the mid-19th century. Much of the growth has been fueled by immigration: According to the 2006 census, more than 600,000 Irish residents, about 1 in 7, were born abroad - including returning children of Irish emigrants.

Government officials say they believe the true figure could be much higher, citing the difficulty of counting newcomers living in crowded group houses. The Polish immigrant population is officially about 62,000, but Conor Lenihan, Ireland's integration minister, said that the actual number of Poles here could be closer to 200,000.

"Ireland has been subject to something that no other country in history has ever been subject to: sudden-onset migration," said Lenihan, whose post was created this year. "We have seen our non-Irish population go from zero to about 15 percent in 10 years."

At the same time, in less than a decade, nearly 600,000 new houses or apartments have been added, according to government figures. Suburbs such as Lucan, west of Dublin, and Balbriggan, to the north, are now filled with almost identical pastel-colored townhouses on fields where cows and sheep used to graze.

Critics say that construction of schools, hospitals, and train lines and provision of other public and social services have not kept pace with the growth.

Public education in Ireland is paid for by the government but administered almost exclusively by the Catholic Church, which operates 92 percent of primary schools. The other 8 percent are run by Protestant churches or groups such as Educate Together, a private organization that operates 44 multi-denominational schools across the country.

On the main train line between Dublin and Belfast, near Dublin airport and nestled next to the sea, Balbriggan is a magnet for young Irish families looking for reasonably priced housing. It is also attracting a swelling wave of immigrants from Africa, the Middle East, and the mostly Eastern European nations that joined the European Union in 2004.

In August, education officials realized that Balbriggan's six schools, including one Educate Together school, were oversubscribed. Scores of children, many of them 4- and 5-year-olds just starting school, had nowhere to go.

Officials appealed to Educate Together to quickly set up an emergency school to handle the overflow. Within a month, the company established a new school near the seashore.

Paul Rowe, chief executive of Educate Together, said the school now has 86 students from at least a dozen countries. He said 90 percent have immigrant parents.

full text>