Clare welcome pack breaks ground for Irish integration

The Mayor of Clare, councillor Tony Mulcahy, on Friday launched a welcome pack for immigrants in the county containing information on employment, welfare supports, education and training, legal issues and health.
The pack was compiled by The Clare Immigrant Support Centre and is the culmination of a year’s work.
The Welcome Pack for Immigrants in Clare, the first of its kind in the country, is published in four languages and will be distributed through a number of outlets including libraries, health centres and public information outlets as well as on a number of websites.
Orla Ní Éilí from the Clare Immigrant Support Centre explained how the pack was conceived and developed.
“There is a ferocious amount of information out there for people but it can be hard to pick your way through it. There is nearly too much information available. We held five focus groups and then started developing the pack to cover things that they highlighted. These groups consisted of about 50 or 60 immigrants in total and we asked them about what kind of information would have helped them when they arrived here and what sort of things they struggled with,” she said.
“On the general side of things then we applied our own experience at the centre. There were certain things that we included like a piece on television licences because we would have encountered a number of people over the years who wouldn’t have known that it was compulsory to get a television licence and may have got into trouble with that,” she continued.
The pack includes a number of things Irish people may take for granted like a list of public holidays, details about local facilities, illegal activities, phone companies, crèches, religion, social welfare, employment rights, taxation, PRSI, PPS numbers, homelessness, contracts, schooling and third level education, special needs, adult education, the courts, driving, victim support, hospitals, health insurance and medical cards as well as numerous useful contacts.
The pack contains eight booklets each containing useful information about all elements of life in Ireland. The pack addresses numerous issues faced by newcomers to the country while still being Clare focussed.
“We are hoping people will use these packs. We want people to share them, photocopy them, write on them, whatever. We want them to easily find and pick out the relevant bits for themselves. If someone is giving a talk on housing to immigrants, they can pull out the housing part, photocopy it, and hand it out,” Orla said.
The pack was compiled and published by the Clare Immigrant Support Centre in conjunction with the Citizen’s Information Service. It is currently available in Polish, Arabic, French and English but Orla hopes that it will be translated into Russian, Brazilian Portugese and Czech.
Demand for the pack has been strong since it was printed.
“We had an information evening in North Clare in Ennistymon and the pack was only just completed so we only had about 10 copies of each language. All of the ones in Arabic went, it was very exciting to be honest,” Orla recalled.