The Garda and Minister of State for integration Conor Lenihan are wrong on the Sikh turban and should change their position, argues Steven Loyal
One of the most significant distinctions in the social world is between what people say and what they do. Between asserting one thing, and doing another; between spin and morally engaged action.
On October 6th, 2005, as part of the Garda's attempt to recruit individuals from minority ethnic backgrounds into an increasingly multicultural and diverse Ireland, it was stated the force was committed to adapting uniforms, diet and working practices to suit recruits from Muslim, Jewish and Sikh backgrounds.
Supt John Grogan said: "It is a problem that has been solved in every other police force and An Garda Síochána will be no different in that regard."
The minister of justice at the time, Michael McDowell, noted recruitment of minorities was crucial: "In five or 10 years, teenage kids from ethnic minorities will be growing up in our cities and towns and the issue is whether they are going to look at our police force and see faces and hear voices which reflect the communities they come from, or are they going to regard it as a force with which they have little to do."
However, with the reality of a Sikh now willing to enter the Garda Reserve, in a major reversal in policy, Garda Commissioner Noel Conroy has stated Garda uniforms will not be changed.
The 2006 census recorded about 420,000 non-Irish nationals living here, about 10 per cent of the population. Moreover, work permits have been issued to more than 150 nationalities, resulting in linguistic and religious diversity - the Muslim religion is now the third-largest in the State.
Two issues arise from this recent controversy: a specific one concerning Sikhs wearing turbans, and a more general one on the future of Ireland's integration policy.
"Integration" has become an increasingly popular term with which to frame these debates. It represents a half-way house and political compromise between policies of assimilation (in which the migrant is expected to give up their values, customs and traditions) and multiculturalism (in which these elements are officially recognised within liberal societies).
The concept of integration is problematic for two reasons. First, it presumes migrants are going to be integrated into an already functioning consensual, organic whole; second, it masks the unequal power difference - politically and economically - which exists between the State and its migrants.
Up to now, the State's migration and settlement policy has largely been determined by the Department of Trade, Enterprise and Employment, and the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform. It was therefore essentially a compound of their two outlooks: economic maximisation combined with concerns about national security. Here, immigrants as rounded human beings, with social and cultural needs, all but disappeared.
The appointment of Conor Lenihan as Minister of State with responsibility for integration (a surprise choice given his earlier comments about Turkish workers) was seen by many as a step forward.
However, his recent remarks and analogy between temporary visits by officials in the Middle East and the long-term integration of minority ethnic groups are far from encouraging. Rather than trying to establish a realisable, coherent and enlightened integration policy, Mr Lenihan seems to be conveying contradictory messages: telling migrant organisations, employer bodies, trade unions and other State policymakers what they wish to hear - and then doing nothing.
A police force should reflect the diversity of the community it polices. In the UK, the Metropolitan Police Force is trying to recruit 25 per cent of its police from minority backgrounds, and has policy measures in place to do so. It has realised that to function successfully, a police force needs legitimacy from those over whom it has authority.
There was, of course, controversy surrounding Sikhs joining the police force in the UK. The helmet was seen as a symbol of tradition and colonial rule, but also as providing physical protection. No such symbolic or physical significance is applicable to the Garda cap. Replacing the cap with a turban emblazoned with a Garda insignia, is not such a difficult task.
Migrants have made a major contribution to our economic growth, taking jobs no one else will do, as well as higher occupations others in Ireland cannot do. They have adapted and contributed to Irish society, socially and culturally.
Now that it is the State's turn to act, one of its central institutions is unwilling. It is time Ireland stopped talking about integration and interculturalism and actually started doing something to make them a reality. It entails language classes, allowing family reunification, easier pathways to citizenship and enforcing anti-discrimination laws.
It also involves making small compromises to uniforms in order to allow some religious freedom.
• Dr Steven Loyalis attached to the school of sociology at University College Dublin