By encouraging others to get involved, she hopes that this will change the way people in Ireland think about migrant people and that migrants aren’t just people who ‘come here to get money and go’.
Marius Marosan, originally from Romania, has decided to run for a position as councillor for his area.
‘Most of the immigrants come here to stay here,’ he says. ‘So it’s only logical for them to get involved also in the political life. I’m not running for only Romanians … I’m running for the local community … that includes Irish people and other nations.’
Brian Killoran, CEO of the Immigrant Council of Ireland, says that the right to vote in a new land resonates with Irish people, because they also have a history of immigration.
‘I think we need to remind ourselves of that,’ he says. ‘That migration is a normal thing. We’ve done it for centuries ourselves and it’s no different when people come here that we should treat them as we wanted to be treated when we went to other countries.’
What points are made about: (a) why Irish democracy is unusual from a migrant’s perspective? (b) what changed here in the mid-1990s? (c) why Irish people should look to their own history for a sense of perspective?
RESPONSE JOURNAL
CONSIDER Visit page 103 of your Response Journal to consider these perspectives on CREATE
active citizenship as a migrant in Ireland.
Visit page 104 of your Response Journal to create a mock front page celebrating the election of a Taoiseach from a previously under- represented group.
