Almost 50 faith-based groups play a big role in helping people navigate civic life in the north inner-city, it says – and the council should tap into them, it says.
A new report published today, Faith-Based Communities in the North-East Inner City, argues that to aid its integration efforts, the council should work more closely with the diverse array of congregations in the area.
Produced by the Jesuit Centre for Faith and Justice (JCFJ), based on Gardiner Street, the report looks at how churches, mosques, and prayer groups have become vital spaces of connection and integration.
These congregations act as lifelines for thousands of residents – many of them immigrants – providing everything from language classes and food support to emotional and spiritual care, it says.
The report argues that while faith-based communities – of which it counts 49 in the area – play a major role in bridging cultural divides, their contribution is largely absent from official policy.
Public bodies also often lack the religious literacy needed to engage effectively with diverse groups, the report says.
These faith groups are really overlooked, says Janet Horner, Green Party councillor for the north inner-city.
When it comes to finding supports – be it career, housing, or education supports – Horner says people from ethnic minority backgrounds, in her experience, will often have gone to their faith group for information first.
“They haven't gone down to their local community centre or something,” she says. “They are very much talking to the local imam or pastor, to try and get information that way.”
The study calls for practical reforms: a register of local congregations so public agencies know how to reach them, improved collaboration between faith leaders and public agencies, recognition of religion as an important part of civic life, and help finding faith groups appropriate, stable spaces to operate in.
The report frames faith-based communities as a version of what sociologist Ray Oldenburg called “third places” — social spaces distinct from home and work that enhance and anchor community life, while also encouraging civic involvement in the wider society.
For Irish diaspora scattered across the globe, the Irish pub once held that role.
In modern Ireland, for many newcomers, a church, mosque or religious group now provides the same sense of belonging and comfort, the report says.
The report mapped congregations in the north-east inner-city, from the Chinese Gospel Church and the Dublin Buddhist Centre, to the Croatian Catholic Community and the St Thomas Indian Orthodox Church, to the Anwar e Medinah Mosque and St Laurence O’Toole’s Church.
Faith communities, the report explains, often become the “first port of call” for new arrivals seeking information on how to navigate any and all sections of officialdom, language help, or companionship.
They facilitate access to healthcare, education, and trusted networks of connections for those learning to navigate their new environment.
One faith leader interviewed for the report said that, in the case of asylum seekers, many don’t even know that Ireland is where they are going to end up.
The report also notes that while faith groups are not a substitute for public services, they can serve as a bridge to those services, shortening the time it takes for new arrivals to find their feet.
Many also run English classes, food drives, and counselling sessions. In doing so, they perform integration work that is rarely acknowledged by official channels.
“When asylum seekers were not being accommodated, which they still aren't in many cases, I know that some people were sleeping on the floor of the mosque in the area,” said Horner, the local councillor.
“During Ramadan, they were going because they were able to get the appropriate sort of food,” said Horner.
To understand this landscape, the researchers mapped it.
They found that the religious geography of the north-east inner-city is dynamic. Congregations open, move, or close frequently, often because of rising rents or redevelopment.
The report notes that faith communities are “in a constant state of flux”, with some starting informally in homes before moving to shared or temporary premises.
This fluidity makes them difficult to capture in official statistics, but it also reveals their adaptability.
For example, one Roma Pentecostal Church, which now meets in Inchicore, was previously based in the Pavee Point building on Great Charles Street. After the congregation grew to almost 400 members, they needed a bigger place.
They then moved to the St Peter’s Bakery site on Parnell Street. When new owners turned it into student accommodation, they carried on in Inchicore.
When she speaks to people from these communities about their needs, says Horner, the councillor, it’s not usually money they mention, but access to their own space.
One of the strongest recommendations made in the report is to follow cities like Vienna, Berlin, Hanover and Bern and establish a shared faith and community hub in the north-east inner-city.
The idea is that groups, including non-faith-based ones, that struggle to find and afford appropriate spaces in the city centre can book room for themselves in the hub.
While many members of a congregation will live outside of the north-east inner-city, it is usually preferable for faith-based communities to have a central city spot for worship and community activities, as it’s the easiest place to access on public transport.
One leader told the report authors that, for lack of another available space, they had had to move baptisms to public spaces like Portmarnock Strand.
Funerals can be an even bigger struggle. “Normally we do talk to maybe our Catholic friends. They can give us a place, maybe do it there,” they said.
A strong emphasis of the study is the absence of religion and faith from integration policy.
Across national and local frameworks references to faith communities are almost non-existent.
Official Ireland is wary of funding or even recognising worship groups, says Sophie Manaeva, a theological research assistant at the Jesuit Centre for Faith and Justice, who worked on the report.
It’s seen as something private, hidden away and not in the public sphere, she said on Tuesday at the Jesuit Centre on Gardiner Street.
This idea of secularism should be challenged, says Richard Carson, CEO of AIDS Care Education & Training Ireland (ACET), who was involved in the report, arranging many of the interviews through his contacts in faith-based communities.
The report argues that it is incumbent on a secular society to embrace its diversity. “Secularity does not exclude the possibility of engagement with faith-based communities,” it says.
"On the contrary, plural engagement strengthens democratic legitimacy because it brings the city’s moral and spiritual diversity into the open, where it can be discussed, appreciated, and consulted with rather than denied,” it says.
There is a huge resource here that is untapped, in terms of integration, says Manaeva.
One of the recommendations of the report is to establish a faith-based community register for the north-east inner-city.
This proposed opt-in database would hold contact and language information, as well as religious service times.
Frontline staff in organisations like the council, HSE, the Gardaí, Intreo, and the City of Dublin Education & Training Board (ETB) often won’t know who to call or when a congregation meets, Carson says.
This register could be used to invite groups to join the Public Participation Network, the report suggests.
Members of the PPN – a network of community, social inclusion, and environmental groups – sit on Dublin City Council committees, among other things.
The contacts could also be added to mailing lists for the city’s consultation hub, for issues affecting the north-east inner-city – area plans, roads and transport updates, safety forums, event notices, and emergency communications, the report notes.
Many of these groups are really keen to get involved with more official channels and the wider community, says Horner, the local councillor.
To oversee this register, the report suggests appointing a liaison, working half-time. This liaison’s duties would also include running a quarterly roundtable meeting of faith-based communities and relevant services.
The report is clear in any of its recommendations that may require funding, that any such monies would absolutely not go towards funding worship, religious instruction, proselytising, or political activity.
A common criticism of faith-based communities, the report says, is that they isolate immigrants into their own cultural silos, and actually hinder their integration.
The report argues that faith-based communities build both “social bonds” (ties within a group) and “social bridges” (connections across groups).
While they offer solidarity among people with shared immigrant backgrounds, they also create opportunities for interaction with Irish-born residents, volunteers, and service providers.
Research cited from across Europe indicates that participation in faith groups can enhance wellbeing and civic engagement.
The report’s findings mirror this.
Congregations host intercultural events and charity fundraisers that bring together people of different faiths and none.
In practice, these initiatives can succeed where formal programmes struggle, because they are rooted in everyday relationships rather than bureaucracy, the report says.
The report highlights that faith groups are also vital in moments of social tension.
During moments of civil unrest in recent years, when misinformation can be rife, local congregations offered calm spaces and informal communication channels.
Yet there was no structured way for official agencies like the council and Gardaí to reach them quickly.
The authors argue for a new crisis-readiness framework.
This involves drawing on the proposed faith-based communities register and creating a “WhatsApp broadcast list for faith-based community leads with short, verified updates during incidents, with matching messages in priority languages”.
In the report authors’ view, trusted community figures can play an essential role in countering rumours and maintaining social cohesion.
When the riot erupted in the city centre in November 2023, Manaeva, of JCFJ, says that many faith-based communities that normally meet in the north-east inner-city cancelled their services for weeks, out of fear.
“The guards actually didn't know where these vulnerable communities were, so they couldn't offer extra protection or support,” she says.
Carson, of ACET, adds that where the Gardaí were able to make connections with faith-based communities at that time, they were excellent at doing so.
During the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, many faith leaders became trusted messengers between the HSE and their congregation, the report says.
It argues that this is a dynamic to build on, and calls for stronger collaboration between faith communities and the HSE.
Faith groups, it says, are untapped partners in community health and wellbeing and can play a valuable role in promoting health literacy and disseminating good information, when it really matters.
Rather than treating religion as completely private, the authors describe it as a form of civic capital – a source of motivation, trust, and collective energy that contributes to public good.
In their conclusion, they note that faith communities “bridge cultural, linguistic, and social gaps, facilitating smoother transitions into Irish society while enriching the local community”.
In an area where official programmes often struggle to build lasting engagement, this quiet, under-the-radar work is invaluable.
The report calls for structured collaboration: regular dialogue between councils, service providers, and faith group representatives, with shared responsibility for integration in the north-east inner-city.
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