Bailiúcháin
Integration and community supports
Foilsithe
An t-eolas is déanaí
Teanga: Níl leagan Gaeilge den mhír seo ar fáil.
Foilsithe
An t-eolas is déanaí
Teanga: Níl leagan Gaeilge den mhír seo ar fáil.
Communities, neighbours, employers and organisations all over the country are helping people and families who come to Ireland to be part of Irish life, build connections, and get the information and services they need.
Government supports are available to help communities to offer an Irish welcome.
Find out about the supports available to help people who come to Ireland to integrate and feel at home here.
As a country, we want to integrate new arrivals into Ireland in a way that works for them and for the communities who welcome them.
National and local programmes help people who are new to Ireland to access public services, education and training, to find paths to employment, and to connect with their shared communities.
Every local authority now has an Integration Team, known as the LAIT, new teams set up in 2024.
These teams are in place to support new arrivals into communities - people who have applied for International Protection, refugees or people from Ukraine.
The Integration Teams help people to get access to the supports and help that they need to become independent and participate in Irish life. They do this by connecting people to services that can help them to live independently in their community, ensuring people have access to healthcare, English language supports, employment and volunteering opportunities and much more.
Many teams will also organise sporting events, information awareness or similar programmes with organisations locally to bring different groups from the community together to and celebrate the diverse population within the community.
Government funded community workers are employed by local development companies to help support the arrival of new International Protection applicants.
Community development workers and additional supports for new arrivals have also been funded through the Social Inclusion and Community Activation Programme (SICAP) since 2022.
Additional Community workers are being recruited under the Community Connection Project to engage and work with the local community before, during and after the arrival of International Protection applicants.
Every local authority has a Community Integration Forum, which brings together both Government and Non-Government Organisations (NGOs), the voluntary and community groups to coordinate a community-led response and help people arriving to Ireland seeking international protection, fleeing war in Ukraine or with refugee status to settle into the area.
The Community Integration Forum recognises that there are a host of great initiatives happening in communities across the country and these forums help to bring all those that need to be involved together to find solutions to local problems and to make the most of the opportunities that are available.
Find out more about your local Community Integration Forum on your local authority website .
Communities and community groups make huge efforts to welcome new arrivals to Ireland, and Government provides support to help and recognise this important work.
The Communities Integration Fund helps community groups across Ireland to reach out and help integrate migrants into local communities. The fund also supports groups to celebrate the rich cultural diversity within communities.
Find out about the integration programmes funded near you .
The Community Recognition Fund acknowledges the efforts made by communities in welcoming and supporting people coming to Ireland. It provides funding for projects that can be enjoyed by the whole community in cities, towns and villages across Ireland.
Find out what has been funded near you and how your community can apply here .
The International Protection Integration Fund helps community-based organisations to support the integration of International Protection applicants at local and national level.
Projects build links between International Protection applicants and their host communities and help international protection applicants to find employment and education. to learn English, to understand other cultures and to access transportation and health and wellbeing supports. Read more about this here .
Volunteers provide a range of community integration initiatives. More than €2.5million has been provided over the last three years to support Volunteer Centres to coordinate this
If you are interested in volunteering in your area, you can find your local volunteer centre here .
Government and local government run and support a range of programmes to help tackle racism and xenophobia, foster equality and community cohesion.
If you are interested in helping people and families who have come to Ireland from other countries to integrate into Irish life, there may be opportunities to volunteer with local community organisations.
You can find out about voluntary opportunities near you at your local Volunteer Centre or by searching online at www.volunteer.ie .
We are supporting schools to help integrate through education.
Schools all over Ireland have welcomed children and young people arriving to Ireland. Government has provided resources to help schools to support all students.
In some areas, the arrival of students from other countries has helped to boost enrolment in small schools with low pupil numbers and has meant schools have held on to teachers and remained open.
Being in employment can really help people to adapt and settle in to a new country.
Having a job means you get to know more people and they get to know you, providing more connection to Irish life and society.
The majority of people who come to Ireland from other countries come here to work and their permission to live here is based on being in employment. Ireland is benefitting from migration at the moment, as we need additional workers in many important areas like health, construction, services and businesses .
People fleeing war in Ukraine are allowed to work in Ireland and many do. People seeking International Protection can apply to work once they have been here for 5 months and can begin working after 6 months.
Many of the integration and community supports provided focus on helping people to find work so that they can build independence and integrate within their communities.
We also offer English language classes and further education and training to refugees, people arriving from Ukraine and eligible international protection applicants to help them to find work.