Language is still one of the biggest challenges for migrant communities living in Ireland, the launch of the intercultural cities programme in Limerick has heard.
Limerick has become the first city in Ireland, outside of Dublin, to become a member of the Intercultural Cities Network, an international grouping of cities which works to develop new ideas and practices concerning migrant integration.
A delegation from the Council of Europe is in Limerick as part of a four-day verification visit which will mean the city joins 66 other cities around the world as network members.
Migrants comprise almost 10 per cent of the population of Limerick city and county.
The launch of the programme yesterday heard that language remains a major challenge for many immigrants, particularly stay-at-home mothers, some of whom have been here for 10 years but do not speak English.
Speaking at the launch Deirdre Minogue of the community department of Limerick City and County Council said she was not surprised to hear about the language difficulties.
“This is a typical phenomenon everywhere so I am not overly surprised . . . they don’t have the experience of speaking English on a day-to-day basis,” she said.
Irene Guidikova, manager of the intercultural cities programme of the Council of Europe, referred to the “City Mothers” programme established in a suburb in Berlin which has been replicated in other cities.
“This is a programme where women are trained to inform other mothers, who do not speak German, on how to access education and health systems. They literally call to the homes of these women and it is a programme that has been successfully rolled out in other cities,” she said.