<p style="font-size: 13px;text-align: left;">Intercultural education is based on respect for human diversity and is a philosophy that acknowledges and values the distinctive qualities of all cultures within the framework of universal human rights. It promotes a model of cultural exchange between different cultural groups within the multi ethnic diverse modern society and promotes equality of access and tolerance of all cultural groups in a society.  The Irish government has had a commitment to an intercultural model of diversity since the late 1990’s. </p><p style="font-size: 13px;text-align: left;"> </p><p style="font-size: 13px;text-align: left;">Interculturalism fundamentally requires both the citizen and the society to be open to the possibility of intercultural exchange and a willingness to engage in dialogue. This dialogue is a two way process, where members of the ‘host’ community and the ‘new’ community engage with each other to create a process which finds both a commonality of values but also respects cultural difference.  </p>