ABSTRACT
The introduction provides an explanation of the title of the book, with the aim of better specifying the boundaries of the topic. Taken separately, the three components of the title – youth sport, migration, and culture – have contested meanings and can be interpreted in different ways according to the context, and the society, in which they are used. Migration is a particularly sensitive term, which is dominant in political debate across most European countries, and in Western societies at large. Culture is a broad, polysemic concept which has been explored and defined from multiple perspectives. Ireland provides a fertile site in which to situate a discussion of the three terms combined. It has one of the most dynamic youth sport systems in Europe, and its social and demographic landscape has been greatly altered by immigration over the last two decades. Finally, cultural conflicts and identities have been at the heart of historical developments in the Republic of Ireland since the birth of the Republic. Sport has played no marginal role in definitions of ‘national culture’.
