Another factor which helped was the response from Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT); they sorted out the admission forms quickly.

I'm a PhD student in DIT and my research is looking at the Sikh community in Ireland. It's the first study of its kind and I'm looking at the controversy over the turban issue in the Garda Reserve recently. I did my masters at the college in Strategic Management and then worked on a research project on immigrant entrepreneurship before that. I have joined FOMACS (Forum on Migration and Communications) and am also the PR officer with the Irish Sikh Council.

Until the row over the turban issue, I think many Irish people knew very little about Sikhs. A lot of people assume I'm Muslim. When the issue with the turban arose, there was so much ignorance about it. I was shocked to my gut by some of the reactions from people and some of the media. It was very difficult for us to try and explain why this man could not work without his turban, explaining that asking him to work without it was like asking him to remove his head.

The Sikh community is small in Ireland but is visible and at the same time invisible. People will often recognize a Sikh in a crowd but not many would know very much about what that means. We have been invited by schools to come and talk to children about our religion since the turban controversy, which is very encouraging.

Unfortunately, a lot of the media coverage about it has been negative and some of the headlines quite shocking.

The turban signifies pride to us but has become a liability. To be honest, life is hard sometimes over here. I study fulltime and then work part-time in Superquinn. As well as that, work for the Irish Sikh council is increasing day by day. We engage with government departments and various NGOs as part of intercultural dialogue. This all requires resources in terms of money and time, something we have so little of.

When I first moved here, I had mixed reactions. I still remember the view I was lucky to have when my flight was landing at Dublin airport. It was like a kind of dream. When I looked down, everything was so green and like a wellmanaged park. Everything was so different from what I was used to back home. Then gradually, the reality of living in a place far from home sunk in.

My family lives back in Punjab. They are happy now but initially were a bit worried about me and they still do even now if I tell them about the racism I and others face as a practising Sikh. I do not think there is necessarily a lot of racism here, I see it as ignorance. Just two days ago I got abused by three young men on the bus. I just ignored them, there is no point doing anything else.

I was the first person in my immediate family who left home, although I have relatives who live abroad.

My primary place of interaction with the community is Gurdwara (Sikh place of worship) in Ballsbridge.

Almost everyone turns up on weekends or on other special days. When I have time, I go to Lucan to meet people to play soccer or martial arts.

With other communities, I meet people in college, work and seminars.

Back home, I had more time to visit people's homes, attend parties, special days or festivals. But here, if I miss Gurdwara one week then I have to wait for another week to meet people from the community because everyone is so busy during the week.

I find interaction with Irish people really tricky. Because socialisation generally takes place in pubs and mainly at the weekends, if you are not a pub-goer then you miss it. It's not that I don't wish to, it's just that I have very little time outside of college and the workspace.

Over the past four years, I've met many Irish people who have been important friends to me. Dublin to me has the vibrancy of urban life in its centre and the peacefulness of a village life in its outskirts.