Community, difference and identity: The case of the Irish in Sheffield

Abstract

There is a growing body of research in racial and ethnic studies on the processes of identity construction within minority ethnic populations. This article seeks to build on this work by analysing emerging collective identity formations in an ‘invisible’ minority ethnic group. Based upon focus groups and in-depth interviews with Irish people in Sheffield, the article aims to advance three key arguments. First, the concept of community is central to an Irish collective identity, but is negotiated in a multiplicity of ways. Second, Irish collective identity has been shaped not only by demographic differences but by shared experiences of non-recognition and stereotyping. Third, there is a simultaneous assertion of an Irish identity running parallel with a perception that the ‘traditional’ Irish community may have to re-invent itself in response to changing demographics at the local level. The paper concludes by considering the implications of these arguments for an understanding of Irish ethnicity in multicultural Britain.

Keywords:

• community
• diversity
• ethnicity
• identity
• Irish

Acknowledgements

The author would like to thank Professor John Flint for his helpful comments on an earlier draft of the paper. Thanks are also due to the four anonymous referees whose insightful and constructive comments gave me the opportunity to significantly improve the paper.

Notes

1. The inclusion of ‘White Irish’ has not been wholly successful in estimating the percentage of Irish people in Britain due to under-reporting, which was partly attributed to the inadequacy of the Census question: British-born Irish descendants may have interpreted the question in relation to country of birth, not ethnic background (Hickman et al. 2002). There may also be under-reporting due to a lack of a ‘Black Irish’ category in the Census, as well as an absence of an ‘Irish Traveller’ category.

2. Using the suggested 2.5 and 3 correctional factors of the Irish-born population proposed by Hickman and Walter (1997).

3. Students and Travellers formed two separate focus groups for practical rather than methodological reasons.

4. Consent to record the focus group with the Irish Travellers was not forthcoming, although permission was given to take notes.

5. All respondents’ names have been changed to protect their anonymity.

6. Sheffield is a popular university city and continues to attract small numbers of students from both Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic. Several respondents were graduates who had chosen to remain in Sheffield after completion of their degree courses. Others were ‘chain migrants’ joining family and friends.

7. The Irish Professionals Network was established to provide an opportunity for Irish professionals and their associates to develop business links, share good practice and provide a forum to socialise with people from a similar cultural background. It was created in Manchester in 2005 and went national in 2007, with networks now in cities including Birmingham, Leeds, Edinburgh, Sheffield and Coventry. Members can access a website which is described as a ‘Facebook for Irish professionals’. Supported by the Federation of Irish Societies, most branches also aim to support local Irish charities in their respective locations.