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Recommended: Irish colonization the unfinished nation 8th edition

“Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”
- Emma Lazarus (1849-1887 )
Nowhere is the idea of Irish immigrants in search of better tidings, more poignantly felt than in the imagery cast by these words. The majority of those who had landed before 1846 into America were Protestants and Presbyterians who had quickly assimilated into society. This was primarily due to an already non-existing language barrier and their cemented ties with postcolonial Britain. English being their native tongue, some possessed marketable skills and an even smaller percentage of the immigrant populace migrated with means already to support themselves and their families, which meant they were able to relatively assert their independence and increase prosperity. However, after 1846 the immigrant wave was made up predominantly of Irish Catholics , the majority of whom spoke only Gaelic and little English. This language barrier coupled with illiteracy and a lack of skills amongst these masses, only served to enhance their unequal status, destitution and increased servitude. These social obstructions thus created a somewhat ‘master-slave’ relationship between those who exercised dominance, and those who were dependent upon what meagre existence they felt fortunate to be given through scarce employment opportunities. While these recounts of vulnerabilities felt and discrimination borne are both historically documented and universally accepted, it serves as a reminder that such injustices are still ever present today within the current migrant population in both the United Kingdom (UK) and Irel...

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...s framed in the limited context of employment in that it does not explicitly recognise the differing conditions between immigration and employment through fragmentation. States who have this 2 tier system must change immigration law as there is no as attachment to the ILO’s conventions as they deal explicitly with employment, and by proxy cannot protect migrants domestic workers under the existing Irish framework. In a comparative context, governments need to be cajoled, especially when coming from an economic cost by strong domestic protest and consensus. So too, compliance within states is not always entirely effective, for example, under socio-economic rights these mechanisms may only lead to recommendations, with no real meaningful change. Without specific legal redress, and no over-arching existing framework for migrant domestic work, their rights are illusory.

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