Faith in the North-East Inner-City

Introduction

New research by the Jesuit Centre for Faith and Justice and ACET Ireland has identified almost fifty faith-based communities in the north-east inner-city of Dublin. A key aim of the research was to analyse the role of faith-based communities in fostering the integration of migrants, refugees, and immigrants in the north-east inner-city, and how they bridge cultural, linguistic, and social gaps, facilitating smoother transitions into Irish society while enriching the local community.

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Supporting Integration

After conducting 30 interviews, researchers found clear evidence that faith-based communities are part of the north-east inner-city’s social infrastructure. Faith-based communities support integration in twelve primary ways and they are trusted first ports of call, locally rooted, and active across generational, class, and ethnic divides.

Recommendations

Informed by the lived experience of residents of Dublin’s north-east inner-city, six steps were developed to serve as practical steps the city council can make now. They recognise faith-based communities as part of the north-east inner-city’s social infrastructure, not as marginal institutions to be kept at a distance.

Conclusion

While the challenges faced by the north-east inner-city are unique, there is a sense in which the patterns at play here can be found all over Ireland. Resilience amid hardship, solidarity amid change, and a fundamental openness to new opportunities is common across our nation’s cities, towns, and villages. Each faith-based community embodies that story in miniature. They remind us that social cohesion is not engineered from above but nurtured in rooms where people sing, share food, and pray together.

To walk across the north-east inner-city without passing a faith-based community is difficult. To plan for its renewal without engaging them is impossible. If Dublin is to remain a city of welcomes, it must see its faith communities not as holdovers, or as guests, but as neighbours. They are co-builders of the common good, bearers of hope, and indispensable partners in shaping a city worthy of all who call it home.