Background to the Research

• Politics in Northern Ireland is primarily concerned with issues between Protestants and Catholics, not racism and ethnicity. It was not until the introduction of the Race Relations (Northern Ireland) Order in 1997 that racism and ethnicity were thrust into the political arena. Some commentators are critical of the time taken to introduce race relation legislation in Northern Ireland. The Race Relations Act was introduced in Britain in 1965, thirty-two years before legislation in Northern Ireland. The emerging literature suggests that Northern Ireland has been preoccupied with traditional communal politics and divisions of 'Orange' and 'Green', and has tended to leave little space for other agendas (or the agendas of 'others'). Mann-Kler's research on families, racism and exclusion in Northern Ireland suggests that it is only since the ceasefires of 1994 that matters concerned with ethnic minorities have been deliberated in the wider public arena in Northern Ireland. The literature also suggests that many political parties in Northern Ireland are apathetic towards race relations.
• The emergence of ethnic minority organisations in the mid 1990's such as: NICEM in 1994, CWA and NICTP have attempted to tackle racial harassment and discrimination and the stereotype as second-class citizens, by highlighting the fact that there are more than two sections of the community that warrant respect and justice. These groups argue that the main political parties in Northern Ireland view racism and ethnicity as unproblematic due to the small number of ethnic minority groups within Northern Ireland.
• Recent studies have highlighted the fact that racial discrimination is on the increase in Northern Ireland as a direct result of the ceasefires in 1994. Patrick Yu (NICEM Co-ordinator) argues that there has been an increase in attacks on the Chinese community. "In the past, the tension here has been between Catholics and Protestants but with the ceasefires attention was drawn for the first time to the ethnic minorities."
  

Research Approach

• The research approach adopted by the author is primarily theoretical in nature, in that the author bases his argument on information from secondary sources. A diverse array of literary sources is used in formulating this discussion. For instance, material is utilised from various political manifestos; academic literature, government reports, media reports (newspaper and television), and voluntary organisations. Moreover, an attempt is made by the author to create a broad range of opinions in relation to how different groups in society view politics, racism and ethnicity in Northern Ireland.
  

Main Findings

• The chapter addresses two issues. Firstly, it examines political party perspectives on race relations, racism and ethnic minorities in Northern Ireland looking principally at the recent manifestos, and how perspectives have changed since the introduction of recent government legislation in 1997 on race relations.
• The second part of the chapter examines one particular ethnic minority group - the Travellers - and assesses how political parties in Northern Ireland have responded to the concerns and presence of this group. For instance, the author argues that Unionist politicians have used "aggressive and reductionist discourse" towards the travelling community and see this group as an "invasion from the South of Ireland", and call for society to become more homogenous, not separate. Moreover, the author points out that "unionist politicians have defended their own group and historico-cultural identity and are not prepared to accept the same rights for others." McVeigh (1992) adds another dimension to the argument, by suggesting that the Travelling community have been subject to intimidation by both Catholic and Protestant paramilitaries.

Conclusion

• There is a need for more ethnic minority involvement in local government in Northern Ireland to try and address the imbalance of representation.
• There is a need to come to terms with the reality that Northern Ireland is made up of diverse groups, not just Protestants and Catholics.
• Political parties in Northern Ireland must recognise the inclusion of issues of race and ethnicity.