Muslims Find a Welcoming Home in Famously Catholic Ireland
Perhaps because of its strong religious background, the nation has been more accepting of Islam than many of its European neighbors.
Megan O'Neil
Apr 18 2013, 1:26 PM ET
DUBLIN - A new 60,000-square-foot development is likely to generate friction in any urban setting, much less a mosque in the capital of a historically Catholic country.
And yet a proposal to construct a multi-use Islamic center -- including a three-story domed mosque, school, and fitness facility -- in the north Dublin neighborhood of Clongriffin has triggered little of the anti-Muslim blowback surrounding similar projects in other parts of Europe and in the United States.
In some ways, the reaction, or lack thereof, is symbolic of the Republic of Ireland's relationship with its burgeoning Muslim population. It's one of acceptance - at least on the surface -- that is partially rooted in the successful narrative of the country's earliest Muslim immigrants, many of them university students.
"When we talk about wider Irish society, there is not that much preoccupation within public discourse with the Muslim presence in Ireland," said Oliver Scharbrodt, a professor at University College Cork and an expert on Ireland's Muslim population.
http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2013/04/muslims-find-a-welcoming-home-in-famously-catholic-ireland/275109/
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