Fresh start for Syrian family
THE IRISH GOVERNMENT HAS PROMISED TO SETTLE 4,000 REFUGEES FLEEING CIVIL WAR IN SYRIA. REPORTER DAVID MEDCALF SPOKE TO LOCAL ACTIVISTS WHO ARE ALL SET TO OFFER A HOME TO NINE OF THEM.
THE notion of good neighbourliness extends far beyond parish boundaries, far beyond county boundaries, far beyond national boundaries. At least it does in Wicklow.
The people of the town and the surrounding area are gearing up to offer a welcome to a family which comes from a faraway part of the Middle East. The welcome will add up to more than a Christmas card and season’s greetings. The Wicklow Syria Appeal will present this set of strangers with a home in the heart of their community.
It is an example of practical charity that the rest of us might consider worth following – and maybe we will. Wicklow’s approach is being carefully recorded so that others will be able to do similar good works. Dermot Costello explains how the hand of friendship has been extended to one of the world’s most troubled areas.
The seeds of the initiative were sown as long ago as the year 2001, when plans were being laid for Ireland’s hosting of the Special Olympics World Games. The organisers of the games called on towns around Ireland to host delegations from various countries around the world. By chance, Wicklow was paired with Syria and so a 12-strong party of competitors and coaches flew in from Damascus to enjoy local hospitality in 2003 before moving on to participate at the games in Dublin.
‘I started off on the committee and ended up in the chair,’ muses Dermot as he looks back at that exciting time.
The foreign guests were accorded a formal civic reception along with plenty of the céad míle fáilte for a week. As chairman, he oversaw a successful multi-cultural programme which made due allowance for the special needs of the athletes.
When all the excitement had died down and the group had returned to their distant homes, the connection was maintained, in a low key sort of way, with letters and emails passing back and forth. A road sign marking the twinning of Wicklow with Syria remained in place for a number of years, though it is no longer on show. Then came the chaos of civil war and Dermot now has to admit: ‘We have no idea where any of the twelve is now.’
The scale of the conflict in Syria has been appalling, with thousands upon thousands killed, while half the population has been displaced.
Dermot attended a Special Olympics commemoration event in 2013 marking ten years since the World Games lit up all of Ireland.
The ceremony set him to considering that it must be possible to do more than experience sad feelings about Wicklow’s disappeared friends. That proved the start of the thought process which led to the action which he set in train.
Soon afterwards, he was sitting in his kitchen when news came over the airwaves of fundraising for
Syria’s refugees taking place in some other Irish town. It struck him that Wicklow, where the people of that far off war-torn land were more than simply items on news bulletins, should be the one leading the way in such initiatives. He started making phone calls, working his way through his little black book of contacts, talking to people and raising the issue. Around the same time, the Department of Justice announced that the Republic was prepared to take 4,000 Syrians from among the wave of terrified individuals and families fleeing the conflict. The reality has fallen far short of that figure as we suffer the effects of a national housing crisis which affects thousands of Irish families.
Indications from Government at first were that the influx from the conflict in Syria would be directed to the west where there is less pressure on accommodation than in the greater Dublin area. But the reality has been that the numbers being catered for have been a long way shy of the target, whether in east or in west. Against this background, Dermot Costello and the organisation taking shape around him set some stiff goals for themselves. Those involved in the Wicklow Syria Appeal determined from the start that they would carry out the groundwork to endure that any Syrians coming to the
town under their auspices will be well received.
‘We wanted to raise awareness of the biggest single humanitarian crisis since World War Two,’ explains the chairman. ‘It is such a complicated situation.’ Complicated? With 75 different rebel groups and 11 million of the 22 million population compelled to leave their homes which have been bombed to bits, this was beyond complicated. Raising awareness started with the young people, enrolling transition year students and Young Social Innovators.
One of the highlights was a debate between the town’s three secondary schools, part of the process of encouraging Wicklow to talk about Syria. Money was raised for GOAL, selected as an Irish based charity which had workers risking their lives working with the refugees in in and around the war ravaged country.
‘We found that teenagers were very open-minded in thinking that we could actually do something,’ observes Wicklow Syria Appeal spokeswoman Mary Rose Devereux. The question was: do what? After an intense meeting in the Costello sitting room, the committee decided to work with Nasc, the immigrant support centre in Cork.
Among the migrants Nasc has dealt with on Leeside is a young married couple who have arrived from Syria, the wife clearly concerned about the harsh situation facing her parents and siblings. The remainder of her family remain in Lebanon where they took refuge after leaving their native country. They were identified as suitable for a fresh life far from the artillery fire and the bullets, in the peaceful surroundings of Wicklow.
The local fundraising now concentrates on generating the money needed to bring this family to Wicklow with Nasc support. Advice has been taken from like-minded communities in Wales and Canada where similar initiatives are further advanced. It is hoped that they will be welcomed to town early in the new year, when they will have their own home ready for occupation.
‘We are not looking to take up local authority housing,’ stresses Dermot, mindful that no one likes a queue jumper.
‘We want to set this family up for independence.’ Instead of seeking to reserve a spot on the council housing list, the Syria Appeal has been busy renovating a house in the town which had been lying idle. The efforts of volunteer workers, backed by sponsorship, have produced accommodation which will allow the newcomers take their place in the community.
‘I am a big fan of diversity,’ Dermot muses. ‘ The people I have met from Syria are the nicest, friendliest people. The more you get to know them the more you get to like them.’
The name of the family which will be coming has not yet been made public but some facts are known. The refugees being adopted will comprise a father (who worked in more peaceful times running an electrical shop) and a mother along with seven of their children aged from four up to adult.
Places are have been reserved in schools for the youngsters, while their hosts are standing by to arrange health care and trauma counselling if necessary. A woman has come forward who speak Arabic, looking forward to giving English lessons and helping with homework.
‘We are the first group in Ireland to do this. We have found the right house and we are making it happen, giving them a second chance in life,’ says Dermot Costello. ‘If every other community in the country followed suit we would be up to 4,000 refugees settled in no time.’
The appeal has mobilised hundreds of people to contribute in some way or other while the hard core of workers is a group that includes: Dermot Costello (chairman), Mick Nolan, Mary Rose Devereux (spokeswoman), Mary Frances Sinnott, Paula Kearney, David Ryan, Ian Fisher, Peter Shearer, Paddy O’Kelly, Angela Higgins, Father Donal Roche and Reverend Jack Kinkead.
The process has already genearted many happy and memorable moments, not least the fabulous gala concert in Saint Patrick’s church, when choirs young and old combined in swelling chorus to sing ‘Somewhere Over The Rainbow’. Of course, there is no pot of gold in the offing at the end of this rainbow but Wicklow is at least demonstrating that it is possible for a community to reach out the hand of friendship to a nation racked with horrors.
The distance from Main Street to the city of Homs at the centre of the conflict is calculated to be 4,721 kilometres.
While the district awaits the coming of their refugees, the sportspeople of the area have been adding up to 4,721, as measured in kilometres run by individual athletes.
‘By the time the Syrians arrive, we hope the whole town will know about it,’ says Mary Rose Devereux.