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Welcome/Fáilte

Welcome to the website of the Irish Centre for Migration Studies.

Some excellent facilities already exist for those interested in Irish migration, notably the Ulster-American Folk Park, the Cobh Heritage Centre, the Ellis Island Museum (USA) and the Balch Institute for Ethnic Studies (USA). Within Ireland, Queen's University Belfast has become the first Irish university to launch a specific Master's programme in Emigration Studies. For those interested primarily in migration into the country there are also a number of useful websites and projects, notably the Irish Refugee Council, Comhlamh, the National Consultative Committee on Racism and Interculturalism, the Know Racism Campaign, the publications website of TCD's Ethnic and Racial Studies programme and the publications website of UCD's Centre for Applied Social Studies. 

Irish migration patterns are now changing. Fewer people are leaving, and those who do often make different choices of destination. The involuntary nature of migration for some, even today, can no longer be ignored. Moreover, Ireland is for the first time in its recent history becoming a country of immigration. This in itself challenges many of our most cherished notions about identity, community and the acceptance of differing values and cultures. It also forces us to ask whether the country may truly be said to extend the same welcome to immigrants which Irish people themselves expected as emigrants to other places

Although the position of Ireland in the history of migration may fairly be called unique, there has not been up to now a dedicated centre for the study of this global phenomenon in an integrated way, in a comparative world context. The Irish Centre for Migration Studies at University College Cork aims to address many of these questions. It seeks to serve the needs of the Irish diaspora and to enable people in Ireland to inform themselves about the nature and scale of the Irish migrant experience. It also seeks to address some of the new realities of contemporary migration into the country, whether by returning Irish migrants, immigrants from EU and other countries, or asylum seekers and refugees.

By providing a range of research resources, including comparative studies of the experiences of other ethnic groups in migratory, nomadic and refugee contexts, we hope to open up valuable new areas of enquiry.

The Centre will work towards a combination of academic excellence, focused dialogue with a range of specialist and non-specialist audiences and applied, project-based programmes at both undergraduate and postgraduate level.

This site is under contant development - please visit again if you do not find what you are looking for on the first occasion - or contact us if you have a query, suggestion or criticism.