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Looking to the future, together


A Dublin-based partnership working with new communities in Ireland is providing businesses with awareness training for working with people from different cultures. Former journalist and NUJ member Cherif


Labreche, chief executive officer of New Communities Partnership (NCP), said the initiative has been very well received. “We work with businesses on including people from


different backgrounds or ethnicities, and how to help them introduce anti-racism policies in their own firms,” Cherif said. The training has moved online due to coronavirus restrictions. “There is a lot of social and economic benefit to this,” Cherif said. “Diversity is a strength and not a threat. It’s good for the country.” NCP, the largest migrant-led network in Ireland,


advocates on behalf of Ireland’s new communities and assists migrants with social inclusion, child protection, education, training, employment, cultural understanding and citizenship. Local, regional and national forums provide feedback from around the country to retain the grassroots nature of the work. “One of the things we do through these forums is


gather information and try to influence policy at the local and national level,” Cherif said. The work reflects some of the questions he said the Black Lives Matter movement has raised: What vision do we need to have as an intercultural society? What vision do we have for the next generation? “We have to work together on this,” he said. Cherif said, “Racism exists and we can’t ignore it.


We need to work hard together to make sure everyone is protected and everyone is safe.” Born in Algeria, Cherif has lived in Ireland for 25


years. “We’re seeing so many people from different ethnic backgrounds but they’re Irish – they’re born here,” he said. “We have to consider them Irish and we should stop these disparities and inequalities.” He said: “Things are changing, and we need to


adapt to this change and we need to invest in this generation.” As a journalist, Cherif worked as a reporter and


presenter with RTÉ radio. In 2001 he was an anchor on Radio One World, a multicultural, multilingual programme of news and features from Ireland’s ethnic and immigrant communities. “At that time there were few opportunities open to


ethnic minorities or Black journalists,” Cherif said. He credited the union, saying, “We got a lot of support from the NUJ.” Cherif said there should be more diversity among journalists, though journalists from ethnic minority backgrounds should not be limited to covering issues of race. “Why can’t an African journalist cover local news?” he asked. “We need to change that thinking.”


NUJ member Cherif Labreche


People from ethnic minorities are still fighting for equal access to the labour market, he said. Homelessness is another rising problem among migrants and others from ethnic minorities. NCP also works with asylum seekers in direct provision and offers to mediate between local communities and provision centres. “Integration strategies, especially migration


strategies, need to be evaluated,” Cherif said. “We need to have planning for the next 20 years, for the short-term, medium-term and long-term. “We hope the Government will be able to stick to their promises to do more for the whole society, including ethnic minorities,” he said, adding there is work to be done on inclusion and social justice, as well as encouraging social enterprise models for Ireland’s new communities. NCP also works to encourage leadership and public participation. “There has to be real action and real political commitment, otherwise it can’t be achieved,” Cherif said. “If the commitment is there, we will achieve this.”


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