Community, difference and identity: the case of the Irish in Sheffield

There is a growing body of work in racial and ethnic studies on the processes of ethnic identity construction and the impacts this has on the experiences of minority ethnic groups. This article seeks to build on this work by identifying processes of ethnic community formation. Based upon twenty-five interviews with Irish people in Sheffield, the article aims to advance three key arguments. Firstly, that although the Irish population is characterised by diversity among and between members a commonality of feeling based on a shared cultural heritage constitutes an enduring source of identity. Secondly, that there is a particular spatial element to community interaction which is not based upon residential proximity. Thirdly, that the accommodation of difference is a key strategy for community making among a diversifying first and second generation and forms the basis for collective demands