Eileen Flynn / Traveller Rights Activist & Senator

Traveller Rights Activist / First Traveller elected to the Seanad

Eileen Flynn (Picture: Maxwells. Source: irishexaminer.com)

On 14 July 2020, we talked to Eileen Flynn who made history (or herstory!) when she became the first Traveller to be elected to the Seanad in June 2020. She has been an activist for many years now, speaking out on issues that affect her community, and particularly the women in her community. As she pointed out though, it took her a long time to get to where she wanted to be, and she faced many obstacles along the way in the form of societal discrimination and racism …

‘I was born and reared in a halting site. I lived in Labre Park and for me as a Traveller person, I’ve always been faced with obstacles in the form of societal discrimination directed at the Traveller community. As marginalised people it’s very difficult to reach your dreams. I was in a really bad accident which impacted my school days and I lost my mother at ten years of age. For me, as a young woman, and not only that but a young Traveller woman who was barely put together, stitched and screws in many parts of my body – I was that troubled young person in school. I was suspended eight times, but something changed for me when I was 16/17 - I wanted an education.

I went back to school and completed my LCA Leaving Cert and then did an Access course in Trinity college. I went to Ballyfermot college for two years then and absolutely loved it. I did pre-nursing and caring for people with special needs. Then I took a year out because my father was dying, but I went back when I was twenty-five as a mature student to Maynooth University where I got a BA in Community and Youth Studies, which I’m very proud of. When you’re a member of the Traveller community, that’s one thing, but when you’re a woman there’s an extra layer of societal oppression that comes with that. Today Ballyfermot is integrating much more, there’s people from many ethnic minority groups, but as a child going back over twenty years ago, it was different, you could feel that prejudice from a very young age. I remember being a child in a shop and just wondering why were people staring at me or my mam? Why were they looking at us differently?

It took me a really long time to get to where I wanted to be, I have dyslexia too and that was tough. Those challenges aren’t just there for me but for every marginalised person on the island, for people of colour, refugees, migrants and for women in those communities. It’s very tough to be a woman in these communities and be successful and by successful, I mean opportunity of success. The opportunity to go on to third level education and employment.’

How can we as a society and as individuals make sure that there is equal access and equal opportunities for everyone? In Eileen’s opinion, it’s about working with marginalised groups.

Photo via @Love1solidarity on Twitter

‘You don’t blow out someone else’s candle and think yours is going to burn any brighter – it’s about giving marginalised communities a hand up, not a handout. When we go into spaces and there’s discussions and decisions being made, we need to look around us and think ‘who is not here?’ In Ireland I believe we need Hate Crime Legislation that works. I’m going into my third week in this role and I’m already looking into it and I believe we need different voices around. It’s not going to be about one community of people, but many communities. We want equality for Traveller people, for the LGBTQI+ people, for Trans people… It’s about listening, and after you listen you can then take action.’

Hate Crime legislation is so important to Eileen (and to many) because up until now, people have had to rely on the Prohibition of Incitement to Hatred Act 1989, and only a small number of people have ever been convicted under it because of ‘the requirement to prove beyond reasonable doubt that there was an intent to incite hatred.’ In addition, as Dr Patrick McDonagh wrote for GCN, ‘transgender and intersex individuals, for example, are not covered under existing legislation, yet Ireland’s transgender community are one cohort who are most in need of protection in this regard.’

As well as the Hate Crime Legislation, what does Eileen want to accomplish in her new role?

‘I’d love to see the Traveller Culture and Education Bill that Collette Kelleher has already started passed [this would introduce Traveller culture and history to the school curriculum]. I’d love to do some work around Traveller accommodation as well. The Committee on Key Issues affecting the Traveller Community was set up last year for six months but I’d love to see it set up again so that TDs and senators can sit together and have discussions on the needs of the Traveller community, and what we can do better. I’d love to work with people of colour, and other ethnic minority groups. I can’t be the voice of black people, or of Muslim people – I can’t go in and say that I’m the marginalised voice for all these people because I haven’t lived that life, but what I can do is bring these people around the table and work along with the NGOs and individuals that want to come around the table. What can we do better, how do we do it, and how do we do it together? I’m a community development worker and being a senator, I’m going to do it through the eyes of community development work, and every choice that I make will be through the eyes of human rights and equality.’

Have you any words of advice or encouragement for younger people who may be reading this?

‘For me, I was the young  person who came from Labre Park and the young Traveller woman that even some members of my family never thought would be anything because of the lack of employment and education opportunities. There was no hope in me, and I began to have no hope in myself until I was about 25 years of age. I always had a place in my heart to be a changemaker for my own community but also for women in my community. Travellers have always had an interest in politics, take Nan Joyce for example, who was the first Traveller candidate in an Irish general election in 1982. She has been an inspiration for Travellers in Ireland, I always used to read about Nan Joyce and think hopefully someday I could make a change like that.

Nan Joyce, via. RTÉ Archives

I have a little girl and if I die tomorrow morning she can look back and say, ‘my mammy did that.’ Bernadette Devlin used to say, ‘we’re born in an unjust world, but we’re not meant to grow up in it.’ So, I hope that when my child is a young girl, she won’t have to grow up in the world that I did.

I would just say to have hope and keep going. My lecturer used to say it’s like a big wall, but you just keep hammering away and take down one pebble at a time. You keep going.’

Thank you to Eileen Flynn for taking the time to speak to us, and to John Campbell who helped to set up the interview.

Sources and further reading:

O’Brien and O’Halloran, Carl, and Marie, ‘Traveller history to be ‘obligatory’ in schools if new Bill passed,’ The Irish Times, 17 Oct. 2019, accessed online at: https://www.irishtimes.com/news/education/traveller-history-to-be-obligatory-in-schools-if-new-bill-passed-1.4053016  [accessed 15 July 2020].

‘Why Hate Crime Legislation?’ accessed online at: https://inar.ie/hate-crime-legislation/ [accessed 14 July 2020].

McDonagh, Patrick, ‘Hate Crime legislation in Ireland - The journey so far and what happens next,’ GCN (Feb. 2020), accessed online at: https://gcn.ie/hate-crime-legislation-ireland-what-happens-next/ [accessed 15 July 2020].

‘Traveller Culture and History in Education Bill 2018: Report and Final Stages,’ Seanad Éireann debate - Wednesday, 16 Oct 2019, Vol. 267 No. 12, accessed online at: https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/seanad/2019-10-16/13/ [accessed 15 July 2020].

Razan Ibraheem / Journalist & Activist

Razan Ibraheem

Syrian Irish Journalist / UN Speaker / Irish Tatler’s International Woman of the Year 2016

(We sat down with Razan on 27 Feb 2020 to interview her)

Could you tell us about your childhood and about growing up in Syria?

My childhood was interesting, I was born in a Mediterranean town near the Turkish border. It’s open and diverse. Different religions, ethnicities, backgrounds – all living in one city. It’s also known for it’s culture, the music and tasty food. My mam and dad were teachers and became principals later, so I came from an educated background.  I was then a teacher for eleven years – I got this from my mam and dad. Syria was extremely safe at that time. We would play outside from 8 in the morning until 10 at night. I was a street child, a tomboy! I was always wearing shorts, playing football, my hair was short. As I grew up, I changed a little bit. I graduated from High School and I did English literature. That was one of the turning points in my life – it opened doors for me to learn other cultures through literature. I studied Irish culture as well, we studied the work of James Joyce, Bernard Shaw, and Samuel Beckett. On a personal level, I think I used to be a one-dimensional person but when I finished literature, I became multi-dimensional with Syrian, Arabic, Muslim, Christian cultures all in me in addition to different cultures from the West. It shaped my life. After that I did a Diploma in Education in Syria and then I wanted to continue my studies, but I had no money. My dream was to continue my studies and do my Master’s, but I needed money, so I worked abroad to save money and eventually saved my university fees to travel to Ireland. 

Were you always so outspoken?

No. I used to be very shy and self-conscious. I was conscious of my English – I didn’t want to say anything wrong.

Did you speak English as a child?

I started learning it when I was 9-years old and then I did it in college too. I was way better at writing English but then I was really shy when I started to speak it in case I said something wrong. But then I realised that people were not judging me or checking my mistakes so I began to get confidence and educate myself.

You went to university in Limerick  - what attracted you there?

Many things. I had already studied Irish literature, and I wanted to go to the best school in English Language Teaching. So, after exploring options, Limerick came back as one of the best universities doing this course. I already knew about Ireland and the culture and I had a friend who used to live in Ireland, and he had had a great experience in the country.

Do you have a favourite book?

Zorba the Greek  by the Cretan author Nikos Kazantzakis. This novel had a big impact on my life.

Who were your role models growing up?

I’ve started to realise my role models recently. I would say I have role models and one of them is Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez – someone I absolutely love and respect. She is my true inspiration. What she’s doing – she started from zero and look at her now. She is a powerful speaker and her words are full of confidence and knowledge.

You’ve said before that the land is really important in Syria – the same could be said in Ireland. Have you noticed any other similarities or differences in cultures?

Yeah, definitely. Land and owning a house are important in Syrian culture. I think it is similar to Ireland. The family connection is another similarity. Many friends of mine at the weekend go back to their families. So the Irish society is somewhat family oriented, especially in rural Ireland and this is very similar to Syrian culture. There is also a love for culture, music and art which is also very similar to Syria. The sense of humour is sometimes different – but there are similarities! We welcome new people, we smile, we’re friendly like here in Ireland. I would say that Syrian culture though is diverse, you could go from city to city,  from neighbourhood to neighbourhood and it can be very different in it’s culture. This could be down to different languages, religions, migration etc. Syria has also Armenian and Kurdish cultures, different religions, so it’s very diverse from place to place. That’s why, when I look at the war, I can’t comprehend what is happening now. We had an inclusive society and we had our own problems like any country – but when I look at my homeland now, it is a country I just don’t know. A stranger.

Have you been back to Syria since coming here in 2011?

No. I haven’t been back since I left, almost nine years ago. I can’t tell you how much I dream of the day when I can go back. I never imagined I would stay in Ireland. My plan was to finish my studies and go back home and start up my own language school. When I finished my Masters, I started to give my winter clothes to charity because I thought, you know ‘I won’t use them at home for a while’ – but circumstances were against me and against millions of Syrians and things changed. So, I had to make a decision and stay. It was very hard.

You went to Greece in 2015 to hear the stories of the refugees and to help in any way you could – could you tell us about this?

It was another turning point in my life. At that time in my life I was working in social media and 24 hours a day, at work and at home, I was exposed to these images and stories of people fleeing wars. People I recognize sometimes, people from my homeland, my neighbourhood! I was watching all the time and I felt so drained and powerless and I thought – what is the end? What can I do? At that time, one of the images I saw on social media was of a man, an Arab man, arriving in Greece holding his two children and crying. So, I knew I had to be there and helping the people there. For me, sitting and watching wasn’t helping me at all. So, a few days later I was in Greece. I volunteered for around ten days – and every day we used to wake at about 2am and go to the beach with binoculars to watch refugees arriving. If we identified any boats coming, we would straight away run to them and give the people food, clothes, water – whatever they needed. The heart-breaking thing was when they arrived, sometimes you could hear a mother screaming ‘my child! Where is my child?’ – when they would realise one member of the family was missing. That was in 2015 and at that time the refugees would arrive and continue their journey. Greece was a transitional country. But now the camps are like detention centres.

Last year I received a random message from some person, and it said ‘Hi Razan. Maybe you don’t remember me, but you gave me shoes in Greece and I wanted to say thank you. I am in Sweden now and I am learning the language of the country and I’m working as well. I’ve been looking for you since 2015 and finally, I found you!’ So that made me feel that all I did was worth it, that’s why I volunteered another year. For me, to see the reality of what was happening was important – seeing people as human beings and not just as ‘refugees.’

The media coverage of the ‘refugee crisis’ in 2015 was constant. There were reports of water canons being fired at people, this country and that country closing its borders, etc. The images coming out of these places were horrific as well. Can you talk to us about the rhetoric that was used and how this maybe influenced how western society perceived everything? And also, what is going on in Syria right now, because obviously the conflict is ongoing…

When we saw the image of the three-year old boy, Alan Kurdi, washed up on a beach, we saw a turning point in refugee narrative. There was more of an emphasis on highlighting what was happening on the ground with refugees.

But then we started to see key words like refugees ‘flooding’ -a flood is something negative and danger, something that causes destruction. The media started to use these terms ‘refugees are flooding…’ and ‘crisis’ etc. If there was one negative story then that story became the focus of the media and they would neglect the other positive ones, and this was really damaging. The media dehumanised refugees and made them a category of people, not people. The media  also started using the word ‘immigrants’ to describe refugees – but they are not immigrants, they are refugees. They are different. An immigrant is someone who chooses to leave their homeland and travels to another country for work, an adventure or for education. A refugee is forced to leave for safety. They’re escaping persecution and war.

The media now is underreporting on the refugee’s situation, though their situation on the Greek islands is worse than ever. What refugees are facing now is extremely bad. What people in Syria are facing is worse than anything you would imagine. In the past two months, one million people have been displaced – half of whom are children. They don’t have food, water or heating. It’s freezing in Syria in Winter. People have no heating. There are families living in caves right now and there are women burning plastic to provide heat for their children. There’s no milk or clean water. People are hungry. There is no mention of what’s happening in the media. This is the biggest humanitarian crisis since World War II.

You talked at the UN … could you tell us about this?

The UN came after my experience in Greece. At that time there was a conference about providing safe pathways for refugees instead of taking these dangerous ways. So, it was a call to think out of the box and help refugees arrive to other countries safely. I was invited to speak at this conference at the UN in Geneva, and I talked about my experience in Greece and be the voice of the people I met.

You’ve said before that being Syrian outside of Syria and watching the devastation happening there is like watching your child die. This must be really difficult on your mental health?

Oh, it is, it’s very hard. When I came back from Greece I was depressed for a while. I lay on my bed and I looked up and I was like ‘I have a roof. I have a warm bed. But what about those people?’ I didn’t leave my room for a week. I didn’t go to work or do anything. But after that, I looked at myself in the mirror and thought ‘Razan, wake up. If  I stay like this in my room and do nothing, then what have I learned? What benefit am I to these people?’ So, I said to myself, I can’t stay silent in my bedroom, these stories should be told and heard. These stories that I’ve witnessed. I started to speak about it, and do interviews and I just tried my best to highlight what’s going on.

You were made Irish Tatler’s International Woman of the Year in 2016. Tell us about that.

I received an email and I couldn’t believe it. It’s been one of the biggest honours of my life. But it’s not just for me, it’s for Syrian women who are struggling, who are suffering, who are neglected, who are double victims – victims of the patriarchal society and victims of the war. So, I dedicated it to the Syrian women and to their resilience and strength. They come from war and death, they watch their children dying, they pull their children from under the rubble, but they are still resilient and strong and holding the family together and trying to get a better future for their kids. It was a great honour and opportunity to speak about these women.

Can you tell us about what you’re working on these days?

A lot of things! So, I’m an Assistant Editor and senior journalist at Storyful, a news agency. We at Storyful verify content on social media. We identify misleading information and debunk fake news. It is very interesting and challenging work.  We work with the biggest news agencies in the world. We provide, clear and verify content for them. My focus is on the Middle East and North Africa region.

I also involve myself in many projects, for example I’m on the Amnesty National Board in Ireland. I’m involved with some projects about community sponsorships in Ireland. I try to participate in fundraising for refugees, women’s issues etc. It’s very busy but this is who I am, and this is what I love to do. I have so much energy and I want to use it. I try my best.

If we were sitting here one year from now celebrating what a great year you’d had, what is it that we would be celebrating?

We would be celebrating something I’m currently working on which is a documentary on women from the middle east. I’m focusing on women who are challenging their community and are trying to make real change. It’s going to be a positive, uplifting story of these women.

We asked Razan to provide a few suggestions and links for further information on what Irish people can do to help refugees:

Community Sponsorship

 http://www.integration.ie/en/isec/pages/community_sponsorship_ireland

Also email : info@amnesty.ie

https://www.unicef.ie/donate/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIqoaU2unp5wIVh6ztCh3CHgKBEAAYASAAEgJGe_D_BwE#1

https://www.trocaire.org/whatwedo/wherewework/syria

https://www.savethechildren.net/

https://www.concern.net/

Fatin Al Tamimi / Activist & Chairperson of Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign

Credit: The Daily Slog

Photographer / Human Rights Activist

Fatin is a Palestinian/Irish photographer and human right activist. She is the chairperson of Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign (IPSC) , anti - war and anti - apartheid activist who has been living in Ireland since 1988.

Although she grew up outside of her native country, like Palestinians she carries the hope, determination, courage and the love of Palestine with her, and she dreams of going back and living in her native city of Al - Khalil (Hebron). Fatin believes that resistance, in its many forms, is the right and the duty of Palestinians and the route towards freedom. She believes that the Boycott, Divestment and Sanction (BDS) movement, is one of the most effective ways to promote Palestinian rights and achieve justice against Israel’s ongoing ethnic cleansing. Her main goal is to raise awareness and work on ending oppression, inhu manity and injustice in the world and strive for peace in Palestine.

Fatin illuminating the GPO for the 2018 International Herstory Light Festival

Kate Fearon / Activist

Kate Fearon

President of Queens SU (’93-’94) / Women’s Rights Officer USI (‘94-‘95) / Member of Northern Ireland Women’s Coalition

‘In those days it was harder to see the beauty…’

Photo credit: Linda Forsberg

Catherine ‘Kate’ Fearon grew up in rural Armagh, a militarized zone during the Troubles. ‘Every day there were multiple helicopter flights landing in the fields in front of our house, depositing or picking up soldiers.’ Living where she did, ‘learning to navigate checkpoints’ became part of growing up; ‘whatever you said, you had to say nothing, but use sufficient words to make it seem like you were saying something, or else you’d just end up stopped for ages.’ Even as a child, there was a constant ‘us and them’ mentality. It wasn’t until Kate went to college at 18, that she met anyone who was Protestant.

Kate attended Queens University Belfast in 1988 to study English literature and Russian Studies. As well as writing for the school newspaper, she became involved with the Students Union and spent a year as the Clubs and Services Officer at which point, she also became involved in ‘making decisions about what issues to highlight and what campaigns to run.’ Coming from a working-class background and being the first generation in her family to attend university, issues surrounding access to education were very important to her, so one of her many campaigns was against the abolition of grants. Inclusivity was an important to Kate who organised ‘what may have been’ the first pride parade in Belfast during her time in the SU. ‘There were about fifteen, maybe twenty of us’ who marched from Botanic Avenue to what used to be the Art College. ‘There were more police and Free Presbyterian protestors than there were of us,’ she recalled, ‘but we did it.’ Fair employment rights and better representation of Catholics and women on the University Senate also took up much of Kate’s attention and helped motivate her towards running for ‘one of the most difficult but rewarding jobs’ she’s ever done; President of the Queens Uni SU. The biggest challenge she faced was ‘the division in the student body.’ While the University had a reputation for being pro-unionist, the majority of the student population had a pro-nationalist, ‘if not republican,’ reputation. Kate set out to at least challenge this.

Kate in 2022. Photo by Ranat Rysbek

The context in which Kate was working, however, made it difficult to represent all students. While she came from a republican area, she was ‘afraid of [the IRA], the police and army.’

The events of spring 1988, the year I went to college - the killings on Gibraltar, the Stone murders and the corporals killings continued to cast a long shadow. In February 1992, we had the Sean Graham bookies massacre on the Ormeau Road. Then in October 1992 the Sheena Campbell murder - she was a student at the time - in the York Hotel on Botanic Avenue. These were almost literally on the University doorstep. There was a rise in sectarian killings all round. The atmosphere was palpably tense. People were scared. We organised marches for peace and a rally in the Student Union building.

Kate was responsible for introducing community relations exercises into their Student Council practice. It ‘interrupted the cycle of blame and recrimination somewhat’ however, a ‘bigger structural change was needed’ in the long term and this would not come until the peace talks.

In 1994, Kate became the Women’s Rights Officer within the Union of Students Ireland (USI) and campaigned heavily on reproductive rights, consent and safer sex. At this time, USI was still fighting the SPUC vs Grogan case (Society for the Protection of Unborn Children against Stephen Grogan and fourteen other officers of students unions in connection with the distribution of abortion information in student guidebooks) and so there was a lot of fundraising and campaigning around that case. With others, she took part in a one-day action on abortion information and ‘got the morning ferry to Holyhead, picked up some reproductive rights literature, got the afternoon ferry back again, bringing the information back with us, and distributed it in Dublin.’ This was completely illegal at the time. More locally, she organised workshops on consent and safe sex and because HIV/AIDS was still relatively new in Ireland, she worked on bringing in new language to address campaigning on sexual health matters.

In 1995, Kate became the Deputy Director of the Democratic Dialogue Think Tank in Northern Ireland which was a social research think tank and a new concept at the time. She ‘commissioned and edited’ reports on gender and politics, and on young people and politics. It was in this role that she first met Mo Mowlam, shadow Secretary of State at the time, who came to their office ‘to discuss ideas about what she should do if Labour won the election.’

At a meeting on 17 April 1996 which was attended by representatives of up to 200 women’s groups, it was decided to lobby the government to allow a women’s network to be included in the upcoming peace talks. The government agreed to allow it, and the Northern Ireland Women’s Coalition (NIWC) was formed. They managed to secure two seats for the All-Party Talks which began on 10 June 1996 and the only women at the table were the two elected to represent the NIWC – Monica McWilliams and Pearl Sagar. As a member of the NIWC, Kate supported the two elected delegates ‘on everything from drafting speeches to dealing with the media, to running policy consultations with NIWC members outside the talks, to taking minutes at meetings, to organising the logo for the NIWC.’

Photo credit: Lesley Doyle

A peace agreement between the British and Irish governments, and most of the political parties in Northern Ireland, came to pass in April 1998 in what is known as the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement. Kate maintained that it was not so much the signing of the agreement, but the result of the following referendum that was ‘the main thing’ for her. She had helped to organise the drive for a ‘Yes’ vote and it had been a tough campaign; ‘questions of the early release of prisoners and the rights of victims came up all the time. And you had to look people in the eye and tell them it would be worth it, if they voted yes, that you believed in it so much that they should too.’ It was the first time that Kate had voted and been on the winning side and while she was proud of what they’d achieved, and the opportunity it offered, ‘I also knew that we in the NIWC would get squeezed out electorally.’

‘When negotiating: always make the pie bigger before dividing it.’

After serving in the inaugural Northern Ireland Assembly, where she drafted the first ever Private Members’ Bill (on a Children’s Commissioner for Northern Ireland) Kate worked internationally. With the National Democratic Institute in Bosnia and Herzegovina, she worked on supporting political parties on electoral campaigns and policy formulation. Working then for the Office of the High Representative she helped to implement another peace agreement – the Dayton Accords, reached in 1995 by the presidents of Bosnia, Croatia and Serbia which ended the war in Bosnia. While there is no ‘‘one size fits all’ solution to conflict resolution’ Kate believes that ‘there are certain dynamics that are common – a need for acknowledgement about past wrongs, a need for a fair chance to participate politically and a level playing field on which to do it.’ Following this, she worked on implementing another peace agreement (the Ahtisaari Plan) in Kosovo, and later for the EU Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) Mission there, EULEX Kosovo. Kate went on to work in Afghanistan and Sudan, and currently works for the EU Monitoring Mission in Georgia.

‘Women might be good at crafting and nurturing peace, but I don’t think that ‘holding the peace’ should be women’s responsibility.’

Kate finds it a pity that the current parties in power have ‘squandered the opportunities we campaigned so hard for and deliberated upon with great creativity and care and integrity.’ She believes that if women can ‘mitigate the current situation’ in Northern Ireland, then they should act to do so, however, she is very clear in where the responsibility lies: ‘with the parties whom the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement gives a lifetime golden ticket of power to.’ It is with them that the responsibility of holding the peace should lie.

Herstory by Katelyn Hanna

Sources:

Thank you to Kate Fearon for answering my questions and outlining the role she played in the NI Peace process.

European Union Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo online at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Union_Rule_of_Law_Mission_in_Kosovo [accessed 30 Sep 2019].

Ellie Kisyombe / Chef & Co-Founder of Our Table

Co-founder of Our Table / Activist / Chef

(We sat down with Ellie in her office on 30 July 2019)

What’s your story?

My name is Ellie Kisyombe and I was born and raised in Malawi and I moved over here to Ireland a few years ago. The first few months I had to find my feet because I was in a very dark place and it was a hard situation, and I also left my children back home, so I had to think of my family and that. Then I started my asylum process. As I was getting along the system, I found my feet and I started volunteering to help my fellow asylum seekers living in Direct Provision and all that. From there I lived with many different people who had their own difficulties – some of them had no English communication, they had their own cultural languages. I did my research and tried to connect myself with Irish sisters to get them to come and help them learn English. I went out and spread the message of Direct Provision, talked about migrants and the struggles of migrant people who are in this country, you know trying to break the cultural barriers. Then, I met Michelle Damode and we co-founded Our Table and through that we set up pop up cafes around Dublin and then around Ireland and we started cooking … and now the whole country knows me!

Can you tell us more of the insights around why you set up OurTable?

Well it was a response to the ban on asylum seekers being able to cook their own cultural meal, and not only their own cultural meal, but not being given the chance to prepare their own meals. As you know like, we as mothers from the cultural backgrounds from which we’re coming, children learn more about familyhood by seeing their parents and mothers cooking for them and passing down this cultural culinary skill – and even knowing the food from where your parents are coming from is being able to understand yourself. So, food is political. There is more to food. You can’t have a healthy family without healthy food on the table. And even in Direct Provision, their cooking process is this mass industrial cooking and most of their food is processed, there’s no fresh food or healthy food. And one thing I’ve learned of recently is that in Direct Provision they don’t have a standard menu – like what hospitals and schools might have. Direct Provision doesn’t even have that. You know, these are crucial things, these people in DP are being treated different to every other person. So, this was the start of Our Table. It was a response to that and not only that but when you’re in DP you live long periods in there where you’re unable to be active and not even able to go out. You know, mental health in these places are big problems. Some people have lived in DP for five and half years so you can imagine, you become unemployable and you get a low self-esteem. So, this is what we looked at when we started Our Table. So, when they come out, they can integrate in breaking bread and start a conversation. You know, these people have gone through trauma, and really tough stuff – you know they’ve seen family killed in front of them, tortured – these are traumatic situations and they tell you these stories. But then they have this food from home, and they start talking about this food and you know, you can eat food with anyone – even with your enemies – it really breaks that barrier. And also, asylum seekers are not allowed to work. When I started Our Table I was not taking a wage. The people working around me who had the right papers could get paid but I could not. We’re trying to expand now and looking at how we can get funding and how we can employ more people. There is a need to try and bring these different cultures in Ireland together and break those barriers.

Nollaig na mBan 2020

The power of sharing and breaking bread. And the healing of food.

Yes! Food is great. Like I’ve enjoyed every minute of running this project.

Have you any childhood memories that helped define who you are?

I was born into a loving family and we were very close. We have very loving parents who wanted the best for us, and I think that’s why I’m a people person. Something I love most about myself, something I encourage, is just ‘be you.’ The flaws, the goodies, just put it on the table! Be who you are. I’m vulnerable but I’m strong too.

Had you any role models?

I have Michelle Obama; I have Darina Allen. She is a very strong women, a very successful and strong businesswoman. Oprah Winfrey. Really incredible women. And Sinead Burke – I love the spirit and the ‘yeah, I’m here guys!’ Amazing. And I’m my father’s daughter. My mam and aunt were also great inspirations. My mam was a great cook. If she was here she’d be the likes of Darina Allen, and then my aunt took over when my mam died and she kind of modernised everything.

And when you say you’re your father’s daughter, what do you mean by that?

Well I’m the like of my father. Anyone who knows my father will tell you I have every character that my father had – he was smart, strong, intelligent and he was an entrepreneur. He had a big agricultural investment company. So, he was a huge guy in that, and he was also a property developer.

So, he was very supportive of you growing up, was he?

Yeah, he was. Unfortunately, I had kids when I was really young so that kind of made him to be a little bit harder on me – in a way that he wanted to make me more masculine if that makes sense. Like where I came from there was no feminism or being feminist or stuff like that. Men and women had their own roles. Men were powerful, providers and go-getters and women were supportive and cooking for the family and that. So, my father raised me more masculine and he raised me like my brothers.

Have you seen many differences between Irish women and Malawi women?

Well we are go-getters. We have to work extra hard for everything.

And what can Irish women learn from Malawi women?

We are very strong. Capable. And also, don’t undermine yourself – you carry the power. Even though people try to put us under, we are the women who hold up the village.

We have a really strong heritage in Ireland – our tribal stories and mythology and that – which is a strong influence on us growing up. Are there particular tribal stories or heritage stories from Malawi that you want to tell us about?

Well, I’m a very mixed person. My father comes from Northern Malawi and they are very educated people and they have a culture of having maids and stuff. They all go to school, they’re go-getters. My mum is centre and southern Malawi. And where she comes from women are women – they’re a tool kind of, they marry and give babies and they sit at home. My mam had a bit of character from that – she was very, very quiet. And then she also came from the centre, the central women are below their men, but they are farmers. So, they go to the garden a lot. My characters are from the North – because from where my mother came from, women don’t behave the way I behave!

Isn’t it amazing that your mum came from that background but was a great entrepreneur? Who supported her in that?

My father. My father had money. He had multiple wives – that’s usual that way. He married three times. But he was a huge support to all of us, to all of us children too. I’m also very close to my mum’s family. My grandmother had 13 kids and every one of them got educated. We were linked to one of the white people – you know the white people who came to Malawi – our family was connected to one of them and in the 70’s he wanted to take my mam to the States to get educated but my granda was scared he was like ‘don’t take my child, she will never come back.’

Other than food, have you other ways you’re bringing your culture to Ireland?

Well I’m a  woman full of ideas and what I’m trying to do is break this cultural barrier. That’s one thing I’m looking at – you get scared at things you don’t know, and I think Irish people are scared because they don’t know how spectacular it would be to mix these cultures. I have a project upcoming – I can’t talk about it – but I hope it would help break that barrier.

You ran for election recently. Tell us about that.

Yeah so it was a very great experience – I have no regrets. There was good and bad, but I don’t focus on the bad. That’s just me. It was really great on the ground – everyone was very supportive. This is my constituency; so, it’s hard to get people in the North Dublin inner city to go out and vote. They are working class and they feel like there is nothing for them. But it was good that they allowed me in their space and they talked to me; they were saying, you know, ‘I’ve been voting for this party and they never even come on my door and give me five minutes – but you, black woman, coming and chatting to me – I’ll give you my vote.’

Yeah, you must really be inspiring the younger generation, those who are still in Direct Provision now…

Yeah, people want to now engage. I’ve seen a lot of things come behind Our Table, you know, people are inspired to do things. I feel now that I shouldn’t undermine myself. I am a role model and when you are a role model you really have to figure out how to pass your legacy, how to pass your treasure. You know, I want to live here, raise my kids here, and grandkids here and I am going to die here. When I was running for election, I met people who were nasty to me that were like ‘oh she just wants to use the Irish passport...’ but you know I want to prove them wrong. I’m not here to prove anyone wrong but I just want to tell them that you know what, my mind was here. I came to Ireland at a time when there was nothing for people like me. I’ve made something for people like me. And this is what I’m going to continue – I’m going to do something for everyone.

What did it feel like to get your Irish residency?

I’m just so happy, at first there were tears, you know! It was just like … this is real, and then it’s like … I’m home! It’s a good feeling. It’s never been easy for all these years, and just not knowing what’s going to happen. And it came at a time when I didn’t even expect it, because like the whole crew – even my legal team – they weren’t sure, they had already spoke to me and were like ‘Ellie this is a high profile case and we don’t know what direction it’s gonna go.’ So, yeah!

How’d you celebrate?

Well Paddy’s day is going on and I had this group of girlfriends and they and their partners did a barbeque summer lunch for me and we had a great time.

What’s the process going forward from your Irish residency?

It would be me now, I’ve got many years just to be a good citizen, to work and to contribute to the economy and not be involved in crimes. And then I think it’s three and a half or five years – I have to sit down with my residency officer - but then I’d be a full Irish citizen. But for me, I’m already home – this was the piece of paper I was waiting for and the rest is just a bonus.

If we were sitting here a year from now celebrating what a great year you’ve had – what would it be that you did?

A year from now? Even now my mind is running crazy, I’m trying to stop myself! A year from now we would be celebrating my stability and that project I can’t talk about! And forming a country that would be beneficial and meaningful for all of us

OurTable are currently fundraising so that they can cook wholesome food for people living in Direct Provision over Refugee Week (15 - 21 June 2020). You can donate here..  

Liberties Legends

FOUR GREAT LIBERTIES WOMEN

The Liberties in Dublin is one of the oldest communities in the city. Many who live there can trace their families back generations. It is an area that has had its problems over the years, like many communities in the city. But the Liberties has never been a community that gives up and that is thanks in part to the amazing women who live there. Like the area they love, they are strong, resilient, have a bit of an attitude but above all else they are proud and they love their community. There are so many wonderful women to choose from, but the four women who have been chosen to represent the Liberties capture the essence of the Liberties and what that community means to those who live there from political revolutionaries to social revolutionaries, these women are formidable. They are Anne Devlin, loyal comrade of Robert Emmet, who sacrificed so much for the freedom of Ireland. Madge and Rita Fagan who have over 80 years of community activism between them, fighting for tenant’s rights, worker’s rights and women’s rights. And Liz O’Connor from Oliver Bond who, for over the last twenty years and more has dedicated herself to improving the lives of the children of the local community. All of these women are heroes. They do not do this work for the recognition, they do it because they love their community and for them to be a part of this festival is just a small way for the community to say ‘Thank You’.

Written by local herstorian Liz Gillis

MADGE AND RITA FAGAN

Madge (Margaret) Fagan was a pioneer of working-class women to become involved in social activism to better the lives of those who lived in her community, the Liberties.

For over fifty years Madge fought for the rights of local authority tenants. She was a founding member of the Marrowbone Lane Tenants Association in 1966, whose work helped lead to the formation of the National Association of Tenants’ Organisations (Nato).

Together with other Nato members, Masge campaigned for differential rents, so that no tenant would have to pay more than 10 per cent of income in rent. In 1972, Nato organised a rent strike over the government’s proposal to put four pence on each local authority room. More than 100,000 tenants took part in the strike, which continued for 18 months. Fagan and other women leaders were prominent at the barricades protesting against evictions.

MADGE AND RITA FAGAN

Following the success of this, she campaigned for a better maintenance service for tenants as well as tackling the scourge of anti-social behaviour in her own neighbourhood.

Madge Fagan was a force of nature who loved her community and would and did everything she possibly could to improve the lives of all of those in the area. Madge died on 11 February 2017 aged 94. She is greatly missed by all who knew her.

Rita Fagan is a proud Liberties woman and is the daughter of Madge Fagan, so community activism runs through her veins. She went to the sewing factory at 14. Through the 14 years there she became active in the Trade Union Movement. She spent 11 years voluntary and 1 fulltime in the Dublin Simon Community. From here she was sponsored by good people to partake in the Community & Youth work course in NUI Maynooth. On a placement from this course, Rita came to St. Michaels Estate. 25 years later she is still in this struggle with this grassroots community and is the director of the Family Resource Centre, Women’s Community Development Project. She has travelled widely and has been involved politically in the issues effecting Central America and Cuba. For 9 years she led a protest outside of the U.S. Embassy challenging U.S. foreign policy in the said region. She is also committed to the struggle of women at grassroots level who are very much on the margins and who’s struggle on a daily basis is to survive structural poverty, last but by no means least she believes, that the struggle for justice and freedom not only embodies pain but also joy through celebrating our lives and the outcome of the struggle. Like her mother Madge, Rita has fought and campaigned to make the lives of those in her community and other working-class areas better.

LIZ O’CONNOR

Liz O’Connor is from Oliver Bond and works in the Liberties where for the last forty years she has dedicated her life to community activism, especially in relation to the local children. Over the last twenty years Liz has run a Breakfast Club and an after school club and runs a summer camp every year. Liz O’Connor’s generosity knows no bounds. She is truly a remarkable woman who is the first to lend a hand, or help somebody with a problem. She is a force of nature and her dedication to her community is amazing. That dedication has rightly been recognised. In 2016 Liz received the Lord Mayor’s Award for her work with children and in 2017 she was awarded Person of the Year at the Liberties Awards.  Liz best sums up her reasons for doing what she does: “There’s a great sense of community here in the Liberties and I just love working with the kids, I suppose you could say it’s my calling.”

LIZ O’CONNOR

ANNE DEVLIN (1780-1851)

Anne Devlin was Robert Emmet’s assistant as he planned his abortive rising of 1803. Arrested in it’s aftermath, she was held in Dublin Castle and Kilmainham Gaol in an attempt to get her to reveal the identities of Emmet’s co-conspirators and financial backers, to no avail. Despite three years of mental and physical torture, Anne refused to break until eventually released, broken in body but not in spirit.

For the remainder of her life the police followed her. Anyone seen speaking with her was a potential enemy of the State and taken for questioning. This ensured Anne was, in effect, in solitary confinement in an open prison for the 45 years she lived outside jail, as all who had known her now shunned her, fearful of the policeman dogging her steps.

She died in a miserable garret in the Liberties of Dublin on September 18, 1851, starving, ill, and in agony … but unbowed, proud to the last that she had remained faithful to Robert Emmet and his ideals, proud that she had stood alone and successfully against the mightiest empire the world had known.

Patrick Pearse wrote:

“Wherever Emmet is commemorated let Anne Devlin not be forgotten … The fathers and mothers of Ireland should tell their children (the) story of Anne Devlin. When at night you kiss your children and in your hearts call down a benediction, you could wish for … no greater gift from God than such fidelity as Anne Devlin's”.

ANNE DEVLIN (1780-1851)

Dr Katherine Zappone and Dr Ann Louise Gilligan

Dr Katherine Zappone and Dr Ann Louise Gilligan

 Katherine and Ann Louise’s story is a love story. One which crossed continents, oceans and ultimately to the highest courts in the land in a fight for equality.

They met in Boston College in 1981 when both began a PhD programme, Ann Louise came from Dublin and Katherine from New York City, though originally from Seattle.

It was love at first sight and a year after meeting they gathered a small group of friends to celebrate a life-partnership ceremony where they promised to share dreams, fears, financial resources, accomplishments and failures.

 In 1983 Katherine and Ann Louise moved to Ireland, an Ireland almost unrecognisable today.

 It would be a decade later after a long legal battle by Senator David Norris before the laws changed to decriminalise homosexual behaviour.

 During this period Katherine and Ann Louise were active within the civic sphere in relation to many human rights issues.

 Beginning as The Shanty in September 1986, they established a community-based project as a platform for active citizenship and transformational education.

Since September 1999, An Cosán has been located in Jobstown, at the base of the beautiful Dublin mountains, nestled in a three story building.

Today it is Ireland’s largest such community education organisation – supporting people in communities across the country.

 The personal origins of a legal case for equality began late in 2001—after 19 years of life-partnership—when an impending visit to Chile prompted an updating of wills.

 Deciding to ‘get affairs in order’ just in case anything might happen while abroad they discovered that unlike married couples who jointly co-own property, they could not will half of their property to the other upon death, without major capital acquisition taxation implications.

 One of the primary reasons to take a case was to break the public silence about partnership recognition between same-sex couples.

 With the support of a small network of family, friends and supporters – including a small legal team - in July 2003 the decision was taken to take a constitutional case.

 Such was their love that eight weeks later they married in British Colombia, Canada – the only place in the world this could happen.

 What followed was a case against the Irish State, the Minister for Justice and the Attorney General.

It was November 2004 that in full glare of the world’s media permission of the High Court was sought to proceed with the case.

A packed courtroom heard Judge McKechnie conclude his ruling by saying

“A number of deeply held values, and so on, are up for consideration. The issue of marriage itself is up for debate. The ramifications of the case will not stop here.”

 Leave for a judicial review was granted. 

Ireland’s debate had begun.

A March 2006 appearance the Late Late Show brought the love story to the attention of the nation.

Then host Pat Kenny noted that then Taoiseach,Bertie Ahern did not believe a referendum would pass. After inviting a show of hands from the audience Pat finished by saying ‘Bertie, you were wrong!’

 A case across the autumn and winter October 3rd produced a written judgement 138 pages long.

As the Court saw it Katherine and Ann Louise did not have the right to marry here under the constitution because that right is confined to the union of a man and a woman.

That dark moment led to a new national movement.

 In February 2008 friends, feminists and supporters gathered around the kitchen table in Ann Louise and Katherine’s home. The organisation ‘Marriage Equality’ was born.

 Katherine and Ann Louise were very clear – the mission was for full equality not second class marriage.

Civil Partnership did become a reality but it was not enough.

 Political changes brought new hope. In June 2011 the establishment of a Citizen’s Assembly reignited the campaign.

Ann Louise, Katherine and fellow campaigners were able to re-assure nervous politicians that the support was there for a referendum – and a referendum which would pass.

Stories were shared – stories which struck a chord with fellow citizens. 

As campaigners and activists the community recognised the need to work together, one voice, agreed messaging.

These efforts culminated in that fantastic day at Dublin Castle in May 2015, when Ireland became the first country in the world to say yes to Marriage Equality by popular vote.

In January 2016 at Dublin City Hall the President, Members of Government and many other friends, and their families,  joined Katherine and Ann Louise for a very moving ceremony. They not only renewed their vows – they brought their marriage home!

 After a short illness Ann Louise Gilligan passed away on 15th June 2017. Katherine is the only Independent Woman serving in the Irish Cabinet, after being elected a TD in May 2016 and subsequently appointed as Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, where the fight for equality and social justice continues.