Speaker
Description
Northern Ireland is a deeply divided society and historically sport has played a key role in both reflecting and reinforcing those divisions. While the nature of the relationship between sport and ethno-religious differences has received considerable academic attention, there has been relatively little research on the implications of this for the growing migrant community in Northern Ireland. Moreover, although there has been a burgeoning of international research into the use of sport as a mechanism to support the integration of migrants, this has not translated to the specific context of post-conflict societies such as Northern Ireland.
This paper aims to address these gaps and, drawing upon ethnographic research on a number of sport-related integration initiatives, it will consider the extent to which football might help to facilitate cohesion and integration among the migrant and refugee community in Northern Ireland. We will focus on an initiative led by migrants themselves, which seeks not only to integrate migrants into wider society but also aims to encourage the development of a separate, cohesive, migrant identity within the already divided context of Northern Ireland. Working closely with local sporting organisations and disparate migrant groups has afforded significant research opportunities, but we will also discuss the challenges we faced engaging with diverse communities and consider the implications for our ability to effect social change.
The paper will increase our understanding of the complex relationship between sport, migration and social cohesion and inform current debates concerning the transformative potential of sport-related research.
