Muslim organisations, Islamic cultural centres, journalists, equality bodies and human rights organisations were invited to participate in a roundtable discussion of issues and shared challenges facing Muslim communities in Ireland, Northern Ireland and Britain.

The event was organised in partnership with the National Consultative Committee on Racism and Interculturalism.  Among those who contributed to this conversation were Ehsan Masood, author of ‘British Muslims’, co-published by the British Council and the Association of Muslim Social Scientists. Ehsan was joined by Mary Fitzgerald, who recently published an excellent series of thoughtful articles for the Irish Times on the theme ‘Under the Crescent, The Many faces of Islam’.

Other participants include Humera Khan, of An-Nisa Society, a key figure involved in Muslim Women Talk, a campaign in the UK aimed at including the voices of Muslim women in an open and frank dialogue with the Government nationally and regionally following the London bombings of 7 July. Ali Selim, General Secretary of the Islamic Cultural Centre of Ireland, offered an overview of the Muslim community in Ireland. The discussion was chaired by Anastasia Crickley, Chairperson of both NCCRI and the Vienna-based European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia.

The launch of two publications: ‘British Muslims’ by Ehsan Masood and ‘The Muslim Community in Ireland – challenging some of the myths & misinformation’, by NCCRI were marked at this roundtable discussion. www.nccri.ie