By Diane Sabenacio Nititham

Associate Professor of Sociology, Murray State University

Mahal and Cara migrated from the Philippines to Ireland as dependents of their families in the early 2000s. Here, they reflect on their immigration status and transition to citizenship.

Mahal, Cara, and I met together on an afternoon just outside of Dublin during summer 2019. Cara invited us to her mother’s house for our group interview where we could have space to share pictures, drink tea, order food, and have Cara’s and my toddlers run around. I first met Mahal and Cara during my dissertation fieldwork in the late 2000s. They both grew up in different parts of Dublin and met for the first time that day. They were excited to learn that they had been living less than a city block from each other for the last year. 

Mahal and Cara both came to Ireland as dependents of their parents in the early 2000s. This was during the “Celtic Tiger” economic boom, when Ireland became one of the fastest growing destinations for Filipino migrants in Europe due to large-scale labor recruitment in healthcare.  As children of non-European Union migrants, they received Stamp 2 as a “dependent student” status as they were under 18. This status is “non-habitual,” meaning that the years they lived in Ireland did not accrue towards residency. Related challenges include being charged higher fees for education than Irish or EU residents, additional visa fees when traveling, and the possibility of having to return to the Philippines if they could not change their status. (Note that there are now additional permissions and schemes available. See An Roinn Dlí agus Cirt/Department of Justice for more information).

 These challenges shaped Mahal and Cara’s understanding of their identities, families, and social circles. While each responded in their own ways, both negotiated their perceptions of being Filipina and Irish by drawing on cultural capital from the Philippines and Ireland, their socialization into Irish society, and their experiences with systemic barriers (Nititham, 2014). Both took on responsibilities which symbolically represent adulthood, including household and reproductive labor. They also reciprocated their parents’ efforts to support immediate and extended transnational families because of their awareness of Filipino global labor migration and seeing their parents’ choices as sacrifices. They simultaneously adjusted to schooling, a different climate and landscape, dealt with new social groups and norms, and navigated Irish and Filipino values (real or perceived). Mahal and Cara are now in their 30s and have lived in Ireland for more than half their lives. Although they have different day-to-day circumstances, they share experiences of migration, mobility, and their transnational multigenerational families.

Opportunities and Movements

Both Mahal and Cara noted that the emotional and psychic demands of their families’ migration and adjustment to Ireland during their youth continue to shape their views and future goals. They each pursued postgraduate education, and while common amongst their friend groups—especially in a competitive labor market—they both saw an advanced degree as a crucial pathway to enhance their education and become self-sufficient providers for their multigenerational families.

 Both recognized that acquiring Irish citizenship offered more mobility, opening up financial and political opportunities previously denied because of their dependent/non-habitual status. They were now entitled to pay Irish fees for postgraduate education, to vote in local and general elections, and had much greater mobility. These opportunities gave them feelings of security and ability to plan long-term. Cara said, “It’s not something [we] have to think about anymore, whereas before we had to think about it a lot. And prepare, and plan and save for it, but now we just sorta relax.”

 Mahal echoed Cara’s sentiments, adding that having Irish citizenship has led to a sense of belonging at the EU level. She loves traveling and the experiences that come with it: “Having an Irish passport made it easier to travel, not have to pay for visas; not having to go for an appointment just to go to get a visa, having it to just go on holidays. Whereas now we are all Irish citizens, we just go, ‘Are you off [from work]? Let’s go somewhere.’”

Multigenerational Families and Customs

While citizenship has offered more opportunities, other challenges remain. Cara regularly thinks about Filipino and Irish traditions to share with her Filipina Irish child. As her child will grow up in Ireland, Cara wants to intentionally foster an appreciation of having a bicultural identity, multigenerational families in Ireland and the Philippines, the social values and cultural expectations that she may encounter, and challenges that may emerge. Her own experiences inform this perspective.

She mentioned teaching customs like the mano po, a gesture that expresses deference to elders by asking them for a blessing by bowing one’s forehead to their hand. While Cara’s family and social circle do not practice this, Cara wondered whose responsibility it is to share the symbolism of gestures and customs. Sharing values from the homeland can carry considerable meaning for diasporic individuals, especially for those who have felt they were  negotiating different spaces (see Nititham, 2016; Wang and Collins, 2016; Gutierrez, 2018). Whether she adhered to customs or not, Cara said that being knowledgeable was important because if they visit the Philippines, “People actually expect that you do that, and when you don’t it’s actually rude or at least that what I think, cause [they’ll say] ‘it’s rude ‘cause you’re disrespectful.’” She hopes her daughter will not see this as simply straddling “the two cultures,” but rather an opportunity to have rich experiences.

Ongoing “In-Between”

Mahal and Cara reflected that their identities as Filipinas in Ireland can be straightforward yet conflicting, mundane and rich. They described their experiences as “in-between,'' but felt the phrase “in-between” is a limited way to explain the complexities and nuances of their lives. In reflecting on their transitions to Irish citizens, they have seen how citizenship offers pathways for mobility and stability. They share similar experiences with other children of immigrants from outside the EU in Ireland, including how their previous limitations, their ongoing family responsibilities, and their future possibilities impact how they interact with others and provide for their multigenerational families. For Mahal and Cara, Ireland is their long-term home, and that the social, economic, and political climates in Ireland and the Philippines will continue to shape their sense of belonging and strategies to respond to their families’ needs. 

Diane Sabenacio Nititham is an associate professor of sociology at Murray State University. Her interests include home, diaspora, and transnational social communities.  Her book, Making Home in Diasporic Communities: Transnational Belonging Amongst Filipina Migrants, highlights the intersections of global labor migration and everyday practices for Filipina migrants in Ireland. In Fall 2021, she will hold, “Emergent Socialscapes” at  Murray Art Guild, an exhibit featuring research and photography of Ireland’s Filipino communities between 2005-2020. She will also be working with the Radio Preservation Task Force, a project of the Library of Congress’s National Recording Preservation Board, on Filipino radio history.  You can follow Diane on LinkedIn and Twitter (@DrNititham).