Partners - Belfast Health and Social Care Trust
Belfast is the largest city in Northern Ireland with a population of 650 000 people. The total population of Northern Ireland is 1.8 million people. During the last decade Belfast has enjoyed significant, economic and social change associated with the recent political stability.
For many years Northern Ireland experienced more out migration than inward therefore work to support ethnic minorities is not as advanced when compared to the UK and other parts of Western Europe.
The legacy of the northern Ireland conflict has made the integration of ethnic minority communities more complex. Northern Ireland and Belfast in particular, remains a society divided by religious and political differences and the integration of the indigenous communities continues to be a priority.
History of Roma community in Belfast
The Roma are a relatively new community to the Belfast area, with the majority of families arriving post 2007. There are approximately 500 members of the Roma community living in Belfast made up of 130-150 families. The majority of Roma in Belfast are Romanian and as such they are A2 nationals.
Most of the Roma community reside in the Holylands and Lower Ormeau areas of South Belfast but as they are transient in nature the exact resident numbers are difficult to determine.
The Holylands which was once a residential neighbourhood has become a “student area” over the last twenty years with the majority of houses privately rented. The area is also religiously mixed. The changing nature of the area, from a residential to a student zone has in itself created a lot of tension in recent years between the remaining residents and the transient student populations. A strong infrastructure of residents groups has evolved because of this tension. These groups have established a good connection to a range of NGO’s who are working specifically with ethnic minority communities, for example, the Roundtable and Bryson Intercultural. Both of these NGO’s also work closely with the Roma community.
The Lower Ormeau is a mainly Catholic/Nationalist/Republican area that was particularly affected by the conflict in northern Ireland. It is also one of the most deprived districts in Northern Ireland. The housing stock is made up of private homes, private rental and public sector housing. There is a strong community infrastructure in the Lower Ormeau with several community facilities that are utilised by the Roma.