Lisa Moran

Negotiating Boundaries or Drawing the Line? Transcending ‘Insider/Outsider’ Distinctions in Connemara

This paper examines insider/outsider distinctions in a rural community in Connemara and argues that they are rooted in locality and are based upon conflicting knowledge cultures. Such distinctions are both contextual and fluid as they encompass a range of cultural factors and find expression through particular conventions on language use and everyday behavioural strategies. The insider/outsider nexus is continually negotiated in this community, and individuals are recognised as possessing degrees of insider and/or outsider status depending upon which particular modes of behaviour or linguistic practices may be seen as acceptable by the wider community in particular social situations. Qualitative data presented in this paper reveals that while some incomers to the region are viewed as ‘outsiders’ by more established members of the community, the degree to which this is the case frequently depends on whether they are perceived as sharing local peoples ‘habitus’ prior to their entering the community. Instead of drawing strict lines of distinction between locals and incomers, both groups engage in regular ‘boundary-making’ by perpetuating locally-based practices and discourse structures, a process which verifies their sense of belonging and continually (re)defines and (re)constitutes the structures of discourse and action entered into in everyday life.

Hoping for a better tomorrow’: a qualitative study of stressors, informal social support and parental coping in a Direct Provision centre in the West of Ireland

ABSTRACT This paper focuses on informal social support and coping amongst parents living in a Direct Provision (DP) reception centre in the rural west of Ireland. Since 2000, asylum seekers in Ireland are subject to DP where the state provides accommodation and food to asylum seeking families, and a small supplementary allowance. Despite calls for its abandonment and that it constitutes ‘citizenship based discrimination’, DP features prominently in Irish policy on asylum seeking. Drawing on qualitative interview materials from an evaluation of childcare services in one asylum seeker reception centre, we argue that children living in DP are frequently exposed to risky behaviours, and that the DP system adversely affects children’s resilience, stifling their educational, emotional and social development. In Ireland, supports for families and children living in DP are relatively weak, and despite protests for enhancing asylum seekers’ rights in housing and employment, asylum seekers interviewed for this study feel abandoned by the state. Instead, they rely heavily on local services for emotional and financial supports to cope with living conditions in DP. The paper argues for a culturally responsive approach to policy-making that is grounded in human rights and family support which recognizes the importance of community services in providing emotional and practical supports to parents.

‘Individual and connected’: an exploration of young people’s discourses about youth cafes in Ireland

ABSTRACT Since 2000, youth cafes are accorded prominence in Irish youth policies and research. Youth cafes are drug and alcohol free recreational spaces and research shows that they impact positively on young people. Youth cafes are broadly similar to youth clubs, but they are less structured and are primarily youth-led spaces. This paper draws on qualitative materials from a national study of youth cafes in Ireland, arguing that young people’s perceptions of youth cafes are linked to individuality and connectedness. In this paper, we explore these discourses surrounding individuality and connection in detail and argue that youth work in the twenty-first century must simultaneously appeal to young people’s need for space to ‘be’ and to find themselves and provide a structure within which they can relate to others and wider society.

Spaces of connection and belonging: Young people's perspectives on the role of youth cafes in their lives

ABSTRACT A youth café is a relaxed, drug-free and alcohol-free meeting space for young people. The youth café model has become a prominent form of policy provision for young people in Ireland over the past decade, with in excess of 160 youth cafés now in operation. While the youth café model is not unique to Ireland, there has been little published research internationally on the perspectives of young people regarding the role of youth cafés in their lives. Drawing on qualitative research with 102 young people from 10 youth cafés in Ireland, this article presents findings in relation to six thematic areas: feeling supported; belonging and connection; personal and identity development; safety; alcohol and drugs; and education. The findings indicate that the attraction of the model for young people is that it respects their individualised preferences for engagement whilst providing them with a sense of ownership and connection. It is argued that the values and principles underpinning the model are instrumental in creating “care-full” spaces that enhance the well-being of children and young people.

Mapping cultural enablers and barriers to environmental participation in Connemara: The role of lay knowledge, discourses of sustainability and ‘defensive localism’ in environmental governance:

This paper focuses upon lay knowledge and sustainability concepts that shape and reflect environmental policy implementation and public reactions to environmental participatory forums in Connemara, Ireland. Drawing on in-depth qualitative fieldwork from a mixed-method study of knowledge in Connemara, the paper argues that local understandings of sustainability which prioritise lay knowledge for future generations both helps and hinders successful environmental participation. These definitions of sustainability are central to how community actors define what constitutes effective environmental participation. Many established locals draw upon these sustainability ideals to justify the deliberate exclusion of recent settlers to the area from environmental participatory forums. Insights revealed here on how local cultural conventions pertaining to language use, ‘defensive localism’ and insider–outsider distinctions affect participation in rural Ireland are highly significant for understanding barriers to effective environmental governance and the complexity of local perceptions of participation, sustainability and policy-making.

An informed pedagogy of community, care, and respect for diversity: Evidence from a qualitative evaluation of early years services in the west of Ireland

ABSTRACT This article draws on qualitative evidence from an evaluation of the “Greater Tomorrow” Crèche and Ballyhaunis Community Preschool in Ballyhaunis, Co Mayo, Ireland in 2016. The article focuses on the approach to practice and the underlying ethos of these two services, reflecting a clearly articulated respect for diversity and the privileging of relationships with families by the practitioners and management team. We argue for the significance of early years services in offsetting risk factors associated with adverse childhood experiences and environments, reflecting international research evidence for the potential benefits of high-quality early childhood education and care. The practice orientation within the settings operationalises the national quality and curriculum frameworks of Aistear and Síolta in foregrounding the concepts of identity and belonging, well-being, and partnership with families in daily practice. The services under study were established during a period of rapid social and cultural change in Ireland; heightened economic activity beginning in the mid-1990s was a catalyst for increasing female employment and inward migration. This article argues that in such a context, these services responded to the needs of the uniquely diverse community they serve, contributed to children’s early learning and development, and provided material and emotional supports to children and parents.