Ireland among top in the EU for immigrant integration

Ireland is among the best in the European Union in terms of perceptions on immigrant integration, according to a new Eurobarometer survey.

According to Special Eurobarometer 469, a recent EU-wide survey on attitudes to immigrant integration, 80 per cent of Irish people say integration “is successful in the local area or country”.

This was the highest proportion of positive responses across all EU member states and 26 per cent above the EU average.

David Stanton, minister of state with special responsibility for equality, immigration and integration, said: “I am very pleased to see Ireland’s strong performance in the Special Eurobarometer on Immigrant Integration. This survey measures people’s perceptions of immigrant integration across the EU.

“The results for Ireland are encouraging and are a credit to local communities and organisations working in support of integration throughout Ireland. Embracing diversity is key to successful integration and we hope to build on these positive results.”

He added: “The Government is committed to supporting local level integration efforts. Grant support for local community integration projects is available from the Office for the Promotion of Migrant Integration under the Communities Integration Fund.”