Seven Oaks Magazine.

Recently, Vancouver's Province newspaper ran a story that took me completely by surprise. The story told of the growing problem of racist attacks against immigrant families living in Northern Ireland. Apparently, the worst of these attacks occurred on December 21, 2003 in Loyalist South Belfast. That day, four men broke into the homes of two Chinese families and one African family, assaulting the occupants inside and forcing them to leave. Two of the women assaulted in the attacks were pregnant, and one of the husbands was smashed in the face with a brick while trying to defend his family.

Being of Irish descent, I was both ashamed and astonished to find out about these cowardly attacks. Ashamed that my people, who define themselves as an "immigrant nation," could perpetrate such heinous crimes against immigrants. And amazed that there were actually immigrant families of Chinese and African origin who had chosen to make their homes in south Belfast. In fact, I was so amazed by this that I wondered whether I had read the story wrong. They must have been talking about unfortunate Catholic families living in a Loyalist area of Belfast.

Upon further investigation I found out that in fact the story was accurate, and more. It appears that Ireland, including the war torn, occupied North, is experiencing net immigration. This means that for the first time in documented history, more people are moving to Ireland than are moving away. Unbelievably, 800 years of Irish history has been reversed overnight. According to the Central Statistics Organisation of Ireland, the Irish Republic received 41,300 more people through immigration than it lost through migration in 2002. The North, over the same period, received about 100 more people than it lost. While these statistics may not seem impressive at first glance, they are in fact monumental. Roughly, five million people - north and South - populate Ireland today. According to Newsweek International, with the amount of immigration that the country is experiencing, old Ireland has acquired the highest immigration rate in the western world. Four times higher than even the United States, the so-called "melting pot" that had once attracted enormous numbers of Irish immigrants.

This development is even more staggering considering that Ireland is probably the only country in the world that has had its population decline by half over the last 150 years. The country that once boasted approximately eight million people (comparable to England) experienced overall population loss from the great famine right up to 1961. Even after 1961, Ireland continued to be a net emigration country until 1990. Then, in 1991, things changed; for the first time ever, the country experienced net immigration. And this immigration has continued to grow ever since.

Like other European countries, Ireland's immigrants are arriving mostly from outside of the European Union and North America from places like Africa and the Philippines. And like other European countries, these newly arriving people are being victimised by conservative and rightist elements of the dominant culture. From North to South, the new Irish have received a cold welcome. In 2001, the Irish government passed legislation that took away the right of Irish born babies of "Non-Irish" parents to automatic citizenship. This type of legislation is not new for other European nations, but for Ireland, it is unprecedented.

In light of these developments, the future of immigrant and minority rights in Ireland may look bleak. However, they are swimming against the powerful tide of Irish history. No other European country defines itself as an "immigrant nation" like Ireland does. There are an estimated 70 million "Irish" people worldwide according to the Irish government. This is the result of 800 years of colonial oppression perpetrated by England. During this time, the Irish have seen bloodshed and starvation, and their trade and commerce purposely underdeveloped. Stop me if this is beginning to sound anything like the plight of those people who are arriving in Ireland today. And believe me, many Irish are well aware of this fact.

This is likely why the Irish response to immigration has been so conflicted thus far. In fact, immigration took people by surprise more than anything. Until 2001, the Irish government didn't even have an immigration policy - to become an Irish citizen, one simply had to show up in Ireland. This right of asylum has since been revoked. But it's one thing to withhold citizenship, it's quite another to send someone packing; luckily, it seems that the only people being sent home at this point are the British Army in Northern Ireland.

The Irish response to the racist attacks in the North is also conflicted. For one thing, the brutality of the attacks is not new; if anything, they have been restrained by Irish standards. A Catholic family would have been lucky to be alive were they living in Loyalist South Belfast. Furthermore, no one has used the fact that pro-British Loyalists committed these crimes as a sectarian trump card. The fact is that all Irish, Loyalist or Nationalist, are responsible for properly welcoming their new compatriots. Perhaps the Loyalists have forgotten that they themselves are the descendents of Scottish immigrants who came to Ireland 400 years ago. Today they represent the Orange strip on the Tri-colour, Ireland's national flag.

In fact, the Loyalist community has been rather embarrassed by the racist incidents, as they should be. Both the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) and the Ulster Defence Association (UDA) - who have no qualms murdering and terrorising Catholics - offered a tacit mea culpa , and then denounced the attacks. Kirkham of the UDA stated: "There's a few people who have moved into this part of the city with links to the British National Party and it is this small element which needs to be brought into line." As weak as this statement sounds, it is actually quite unusual. Perhaps, the UDA and UVF will realise the error of their ways with Catholics as well, because of this problem. Wishful thinking?

Indeed the opportunities for progressive change offered by today's immigration into Ireland are endless. Maybe the Irish will finally get over their petty differences. Maybe the "immigrant nation" will be the first Western country to develop policies that will defend the rights of immigrants instead of taking them away. In the coming years, the weight of Irish history will be put to the test. Will the Irish learn from their storied past and embrace their new countrymen as brothers and sisters with a common history, or will they learn nothing and reject them as they have rejected each other over centuries of sectarian conflict? With the British on their way out, I am hopeful for change.