US: Ireland is coming to terms with the fact that it is "irrevocably a major multicultural society" with 160 nationalities living and working in the country, junior agriculture minister Mary Wallace has told the United Nations general assembly.
"The integration of newcomers into that new multicultural society is one of the most important social issues we face over the next few decades.
"Investment in social infrastructure will be critical to ensure that our migrants can participate not only in the economic aspects of society but also in its equally important social and cultural dimensions."
Addressing a two-day High Level Dialogue on Migration at the UN headquarters in New York, Ms Wallace said it was not enough simply to have a multicultural society and leave it at that.
"We must ensure an inter-cultural society where the different cultures speak to each other, listen to each other and enrich each other in the context of a common aspiration to promote the welfare and values of a new Irish society. This is no easy task," she said.
Ms Wallace expressed the Government's support for a continuing multilateral dialogue on migration to discuss the issues involved in migration and development "in a systematic and comprehensive way".
The two-day meeting, which has drawn representatives from 133 countries, was expected to end yesterday with a decision to continue the migration dialogue, initially with a meeting in Brussels next year.