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Survey of Irish in Birmingham will reveal all
By Fiona Audley
ANSWERS to the question of what it means to be Irish in Birmingham are
just a few weeks away and community leaders are already predicting an
exciting outcome.
An extensive research project undertaken to expose the true nature of
being part of the 100,000-strong Irish community living in the bustling
city has now closed and the results are being collated and analysed.
And it is issues relating to the city’s Celtic youths and the perception
of cultural activities available in the region that are among those that
have been highlighted.
Full results will be published next month but in the meantime The Irish
Post grabbed a chat with Ted Ryan, chairman of Birmingham’s Irish
Community Forum — one of the three organisations behind the study.
He said: “A draft report of the initial results has been put together
but we have to wait for it to be analysed properly before we can announce
the findings.
“Yet we already feel this study will be very productive for the
community and it’s the first time our organisations have joined
together to gather research about what we should be providing Irish people
in Birmingham.”
The Forum joined with the Birmingham St. Patrick’s Day Festival
and Birmingham Irish Heritage Group to commission the survey which was
funded by the Digbeth Trust.
They hope the findings will uncover specific needs of different groups
within the community while helping them devise a plan for future cultural
developments.
The results will also provide targets for the community’s new Díon-funded
Cultural Development worker.
Mr Ryan explained: “We wanted to look seriously at how our organisations
put on cultural events in the community while highlighting issues for
our new cultural worker to work on.”
The research was undertaken by People and Organisation Ltd — a non-Irish
professional research consultancy — bet-ween November 2007 and February
2008.
Mr Ryan added: “It was important to us to use a professional company
with no ties to the Irish community and real research and statistics tools.
He added: “I am very excited about the results as the glance that
I have taken shows some interesting and unexpected iss-ues have already
arisen.
“In particular, issues for our youth and the perception of cultural
activities available in the city seem to be highlighted.”
A report of the findings will be published mid-April and a full breakdown
of the results will feature in The Irish Post the following week. |
