During the Spring of 2024, Fingal County Council’s, Our Balbriggan Programme office, which is leading an extensive regeneration of the town, set about highlighting particular organisations that are working with local communities in the town to celebrate diversity and respond to challenges faced by minority ethnic groups.
As per the 2022 Census, almost 30% of the population of Balbriggan have been born outside the island of Ireland.
Cairde, a local community organisation that focuses on addressing health inequalities, Balbriggan Integration Forum a volunteer led group, and An Garda Síochána have all been working on a variety of projects in the town and a series of videos have been produced by the Our Balbriggan Office to highlight their work.
The three videos below are a ‘spotlight on integration’ in Balbriggan and give a snapshot into some of the projects being carried out locally. In March 2024, a conference entitled ‘Demystifying Integration’ was held by Balbriggan Integration Forum. Also in March, an evaluation report was launched by Cairde Balbriggan on a training programme that centred on the mental health needs of migrant women https://tinyurl.com/3nh92ebn
In April, three art projects were launched in the town that have been developed to encourage stronger relations between young people and the Gardaí. Artist Joe Caslin worked with young people, An Garda Síochána and Cairde Balbriggan over a period of several month to create these works.
This ‘spotlight on integration’ is part of a series of promotional works that the Our Balbriggan Programme office will be delivering over the coming months. Through its ‘Community Pillar’, the Our Balbriggan office is committed to highlighting the strengths of the town, the vibrancy of the community and the hard work of organisations working in and for Balbriggan.
