'We are looking to give people a hand-up, not a hand-out'

‘Stand together’ was the overriding message from the ‘Ireland For All – Diversity Not Division’ Solidarity March which took place in Letterkenny this afternoon.

The coalition is a collection of local groups set-up to counter anti-migrant protests and today’s event coincided with the solidarity march from Parnell Square to the Customs’ House in Dublin.

Local groups - including the Donegal Community Development Project, the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Think Equality, People Before Profit, Donegal Travellers Project, the Movement of Asylum Seekers Ireland (MASI) and various youth organisations - were in attendance in Letterkenny.

“We were asked by people who could not go to Dublin and also people who wanted to show solidarity and to stand up against negative voices and for inclusion, to do something public, so we organised this event in Letterkenny today,” Paul Kernan, Project Coordinator at Donegal Intercultural Platform Community Development Project told DonegalLive. “We have people in asylum organisations, different community organisations and from the wider community standing together, listening to music, listening to speeches and enjoying each other’s company.

“We just wanted people to come together, stand together, shake hands and give a hug,which is lovely to see. It’s also important to be aware that there are voices about division that are talking about fear and generating fear and that’s exactly what we are against.”

Nolunga Shologu, Community Links Worker with the Donegal Intercultural Platform, who stand for human rights, diversity, inclusion and integration and build relationships with all communities, shared her story.

“I was born and bred in South Africa and came to Ireland 22 years ago and have been living in Letterkenny firstly as an asylum seeker seeking safety and protection for my family and I waited seven years before I was accepted and granted ‘Leave to Remain,’” she said. “I am now an Irish citizen, working full-time and paying tax and I abide by the rules and laws of his country and have never been in trouble with the law.

“I just want to ask the meaning of Donegal? Yes! Donegal is the fort of foreigners so that is why we are here. That time it was Scottish vikings and foreigners from Scandinavian countries. Now you see refugees from Ukraine and from all over the world. They are all just normal families looking for peace and safety. They have a great fear of whether they will be accepted or whether they will be rejected.”

Letterkenny native David Friel is Training and Development Officer with Think Equality Project, a collaboration between the Donegal Travellers Project, Donegal Intercultural Platform and Donegal Local Development Company.

“We work towards the inclusion of minorities across all facets of life and society,” he said. “Standing here today there is no doubt that people in communities across Ireland are in dire situations from a homeless crisis to an accommodation crisis to an energy crisis to the long lists for public services. But we must also acknowledge the situations facing minority communities, including black and minorities, travellers and roma.

“We have been abandoned by our government, not by the people seeking asylum or a refugee. It is not the fault of ethnic minorities on our island, it’s policy failure. This is an Ireland for all, which stands for diversity, minority and inclusion, and not division.

“In division there is weakness and in solidarity there is strength. Let us stand and show who we are and let us demand our government establish the conditions for real and sustainable change for all people in Ireland. To quote Martin Luther King, he said: ‘Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.’”

Goretti Horgan, Senior Lecturer in Social Policy at Ulster University, Magee, in Derry, joined the march. She took to the stage following a song called 'Peace' by the Artistic Director at Amavevane Acapella, Future Ndex Moyo from Zimbabwe. 

“The far right are trying to blame people who come here to seek international protection, people who come here as economic migrants, people who come here to make this island their home,” she said. “They are trying to blame them for government failures. There’s been a housing crisis for over 10 years, long before these people arrived.

“There’s nothing I like to see more than people arriving here. Irish people have been economic migrants for centuries, so yes, we welcome anyone who wants to live here. That’s the message we want to send out to people who want to divide us."

Independent Senator Eileen Flynn, who is from Ballyfermot and the Travelling community, stressed the need for solidarity and a united front and claimed the roots of current unrest in Ireland is not the fault of the minority groups.

“We talk about Donegal being the forgotten county so thank you for the opportunity here today,” she said. “I have no doubt the far right will continue to be racist and spread hate, try to divide us and tell lies. They’re trying to say if there were no travellers and no foreigners there would be no crime here and Ireland would be perfect!

“It’s really serious that people who are seeking safety, having suffered, are met by certain people who are haters. People think if you give to the refugees then you take from them.

“All these crises in Ireland existed before refugees. Our argument should not be with other human beings or with each other, it should be outside Leinster House. I want to talk about us, we should stand together. I’m sick of this ‘standing up against racism’ and ‘standing up against inequality,’ let’s stand together for each other, for equality and for a better Ireland for each other. Let’s stand side-by-side together.

“Who are you to say a life is more important than another? At the end of the day, we are looking to give people a hand-up, not a hand-out. Let people live in peace and live in dignity.”