Wexford has given Syrian refugees a very warm welcome
THE woman who oversaw the programme to integrate Syrian refugees into Co Wexford has said the people of the county fully embraced the initiative and made the people coming here very welcome.
Hannah Culkin, who is the Refugee Resettlement Manager with Doras Luimni, met with this newspaper to discuss the programme which is nearing its end after a two-year period that saw 215 people settle in Wexford from a country that has been ravaged by war.
Doras Luimni is an independent, non-profit, non- Governmental, organisation that works to promote and protect human rights.
Integration planning is a key component of what the organisation does and that was also a priority aspect of the work Hannah has done in Wexford over the last two years in conjunction with Wexford County Council.
Doras Luimni was set up in Limerick in 2000 and the first resettlement programme took place in Co Laois in 2015.
Now that the programme is winding down in Wexford Hannah said the last meeting of the inter-agency committee will take place this coming Thursday.
She underlined the fact that sometimes the general public have a misconception about refugees.
‘ They have been invited to Ireland by the Government’s resettlement programme,’ she said.
The inter-agency group in Wexford is composed of Hannah, Noirín Cummins, Sulafa Ali, Kamal Tribak and Mercedes Hoad Moussa.
‘We won the tender to administer the resettlement programme in Wexford,’ said Hannah.
‘Our job is to support the families on a daily basis,’ she added.
That support is provided in a number of ways and many of the things that Irish people take for granted are completely new learning experiences for the Syrian people who are here.
‘A big part of our work is collaborating with partner organisations,’ said Hannah.
In some ways the role of Hannah’s organisation was to coordinate the programme between the families and services and for her it was a case of liaising between all of the people and organisations involved.
‘With families arriving it’s a case of helping them get to grips with their new surroundings and we mustn’t forget what it is they’re coming from,’ she said.
‘ The things we take for granted like going to the supermarket,
Hannah Culkin.
knowing bus stops and timetables, and making appointments, these are some of the everyday things we help them with.’
Doras Luimni also works with the Waterford and Wexford Education and Training Board ( WWETB) to give the Syrian people English classes.
Hannah, who is from Galway, was full of praise for the people of Co Wexford who she said made the refugees feel very welcome.
‘Yes, there will always be one or two people who have concerns but the vast majority of people have been so welcoming and that’s something that the Syrian people themselves have spoken about,’ she said.
‘ The families have been warmly welcomed in Wexford,’ she added.
‘ They say the people in Wexford people are always happy and smiling.’
The inter-agency group has also developed a team of around 30 volunteers in Co Wexford and Hannah said their input and support has been invaluable.
‘We organise home visits too because that helps people get comfortable in their new surroundings.’
When the programme winds down it’s expected the volunteers will provide ongoing help and support to the refugees as they integrate themselves in their local communities.
‘We have a befriending programme and the volunteers go to some people’s homes as well,’ said Hannah.
The Syrians were also offered tutoring in English under the ESL (English as a Second Language) initiative and that was delivered by retired teachers and people who never did such work before but were trained.
‘We are rolling out a family advocacy programme at the moment as well,’ said Hannah.
For her the human aspect of the programme is always at the forefront: ‘ These are people and they had lives before they came here.’
‘ They are human beings just like us.’
Last month the first Wexford integration network meeting took place and saw around 20 different stakeholder organisations represented.
THE issue of border checks on trucks arriving in the UK from Rosslare Europort which plan to travel onwards to another country within the EU was raised in the Dáil by Fianna Fáil Deputy James Browne.
‘ Two thirds of our exports to the Continent, comprising three million tonnes or €100 billion worth of trade in 150,000 trucks per year, go over the landbridge,’ he said. ‘ The UK exit from the EU will obviously complicate that.’
Rosslare Europort is owned by the Fishguard and Rosslare Railways and Harbours Company, established in 1898 under a UK statutory instrument, he said. ‘Its future is effectively controlled by the UK Government, which could dissolve that company in the morning if it wanted to. It might like the idea of having a port still in the EU after Brexit.’
In response, Tánaiste and Minister for Trade Simon Coveney said retaining the effective use of the landbridge post Brexit has been discussed at both political and official level with the UK and the EU. As a result of these contacts, the importance of maintaining the landbridge had been recognised through the protocol on Ireland and Northern Ireland in the draft Withdrawal
NEW Revenue guidance concerning the rate of VAT that applies to food supplements, will apply the 23% VAT rate instead of zero rate to most food supplements with effect from March 1, 2019, Minister of State Michael D’Arcy told the Dáil.
However, he said it should be noted that human oral medicines, including certain folic acid and other vitamin and mineral products licensed by the Health Products Regulatory Association (HPRA), will continue to apply at the zero rate of VAT.
It was possible to retain these products at the zero rate because they qualify as oral medicines, which are charged to VAT at the zero rate in Ireland under an historical derogation to EU Agreement.
‘ This reaffirms the commitment of the UK to facilitate the efficient and timely transit through the UK of goods moving from Ireland to another EU member state or another country, or vice versa,’ he said. ‘ To this end, I welcome the EU’s agreement that the UK may join the Common Transit Convention upon its departure from the EU and that a number of the formal steps to allow this to happen have been completed. The UK’s accession to the Common Transit Convention will play an important role in ensuring Ireland’s access to other EU member states via the UK landbridge.’
He said the Common Transit Convention effectively means that if one seals a container in Dublin and it is going to France, Belgium or the Netherlands, it should be able to be transported across the British landbridge and back into the Single Market without being checked. While it may have to be scanned while passing through, the goods should not have to be checked.
‘ That is what we are trying to achieve in order that Irish trucks will not be treated as coming from a third country outside the EU and re-entering the Single Market,’ he said. VAT law, he said.
The Minister of State was replying to Opposition deputies who said the increase on VAT on food supplements to 23% was shocking for huge numbers of people who need and rely on food supplements and vitamins.
‘The operation of the current concession has become problematic because of the efforts by some in the industry to exploit the concession to extend the zero rating beyond the scope permitted by Revenue,’ he said. ‘Some businesses had challenged Revenue guidance and Revenue decisions on the VAT rating of products, giving rise to concerns about compliance within the industry and unfair competition between compliant and non-compliant businesses.’