‘We now have Catholics and Blacks’: Whiteness in a Northern Irish rugby club

Abstract

Northern Ireland is often considered in terms of the two majority communities, Catholics and Protestants, and the inter-communal conflict which structured, and continues to structure, much of Northern Irish society. However, situated within often volatile situations, the small ethnic minority communities of Northern Ireland have often been overlooked. This article investigates a Northern Irish rugby club, and examines the way in which whiteness is normalised, racist discourses are dismissed, and the sectarian boundaries, which are normally so strongly maintained, are overlooked in the presence of ‘others.’ As such, this research offers a contemporary perspective of the way whiteness, racism and sectarianism intersect in Northern Irish society, and starts a conversation about the provision of sport for ethnic minority communities in Northern Ireland.

After-school sports programmes and social inclusion processes in culturally diverse contexts: Results of an international multicase study

“…Furthermore, the particular characteristics of sport make its application very viable and useful in cultural diversity school-contexts to promote social inclusion without losing cultural identities ( Cockburn, 2017 ; Flensner et al, 2021 ). However, sports can also spark conflicts, foster racial stereotypes, and perpetuate unbridled rivalries among ethnic groups, cultures, and nationalities ( Barker et al, 2013 ; Van Sterkenburg et al, 2019 ; Kavanagh, 2022 ). Therefore, it needs to be carefully planned, examined, and implemented to become a true alternative to these collateral risks ( Grimminger-Seidensticker and Möhwald, 2017 ).…”