Irish political parties are among the least diverse, responsive and capable of leading by example when it comes to representing the diversity of 21st-century Irish society,researchers at University College Dublin (UCD) claim.
Analysing responses from Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, the Progressive Democrats, Labour, the Green Party and Sinn Féin, it also says immigrants and ethnic minorities remain unrepresented in Irish parliamentary politics.
The report warns that behind the "political rhetoric of inclusion and integration", there is little tangible commitment by Irish political parties to the integration of immigrant communities into the political system. It suggests they have much to learn from parties in other countries.
"All parties express positive attitudes to the contribution of immigrants to Irish society. However, there is a danger that support for integration 'in theory' does not translate into integration in practice," it states.
The research also notes that six immigrant candidates stood as Independents in the 2004 local elections, with two elected.
But while some parties said that they had translated - or were in the process of translating - party literature into languages such as Polish and Chinese, the research notes that none of the six political parties successfully stood such a candidate in 2004.
"The danger, if this trend continues, is that political parties will foster the alienation of immigrant communities from the mainstream of Irish society," it says.
"Politicians are key actors in debates about immigration and integration . . . yet their own specific institutions, the political parties, remain among the least diverse, the least responsive, the least capable of leading by example when it comes to representing the diversity of 21st-century Irish society.
"This is unsustainable and potentially dangerous to social cohesion in the long run."
The research, conducted on behalf of the Migration and Citizenship Research Initiative at UCD, notes that non-Irish citizens, except those from Britain, cannot vote in the forthcoming general election, but they can vote in local elections.
In some cases, political parties are making less of an effort on the ground to reach out to immigrants than they did in the run-up to the 2004 local government elections, the report states.
It calls for parties to show a real commitment to the political integration of these groups ahead of the 2009 local government elections, where voting rights will depend on residency rather than citizenship.
"The findings of this survey suggest that political parties find it difficult to assess to what extent efforts they have made to reach out . . . have been successful," the research states.
"Behind the rhetoric of inclusion and integration, there may be little real commitment to reaching out to immigrant communities unless there are votes to be won, as put by one respondent, 'a few elections from now'.
"However, this would put the question of immigrant participation on the back-burner until at least 2017."