Communities from all across Kilkenny unite for Refugee Week
Kilkenny celebrates Refugee Week with photography, film, football, music, dance and thought
Native and migrant communities congregated last week to celebrate Refugee Week in Kilkenny, enjoying a programme of events organised by Kilkenny County Council Integration office and Kilkenny Leader Partnership.
The events provided moments for celebrating migrant communities in Kilkenny and the people working to integrate them, as well as acknowledging the plight of refugees and the hostility refugees and migrants now experience from anti-immigration groups upon arrival in Ireland.
Three photography exhibitions were on display around the city for the duration of the week: Pilgrimage at the Mayfair Library, I Am Me – Not Just a Refugee at Cakeface, and Faces & Stories at MacDonagh Junction.
Felippe Lopes, the Brazil-born, Kilkenny-based photojournalist behind Pilgrimage, explained that the exhibition was a compilation of photos he gathered over the last few years on search-and-rescue missions in the Mediterranean and at refugee camps across the European border.
“I got close to the people,” Mr Lopes said, “I built relationships with them, built trust with them, so you can see that the photos are actually relatively close in terms of photography. I’m like two metres, one metre away from the person. That creates obviously a really intimate dynamic and energy in the pictures.”
This is Mr Lopes’ first time exhibiting his work as part of Refugee Week in Kilkenny. Despite the overridingly positive response to the exhibition, he was troubled by social media comments on an interview he gave with KCLR in advance of Refugee Week.
“Obviously I cannot speak for every single migrant,” he said, “but of the people I know, they love Ireland, they’re grateful for being here. I’m not a refugee myself, I'm a migrant, which is a completely different story. But I love Ireland, I love the Irish people.
"My partner is Irish, my son – who is on the way – is Irish. So, I am super grateful. I appreciate the culture, I appreciate the history. However, most recently, I think that fear is now sitting behind you. That feeling and sentiment is uncomfortable.
The last few days are the first time after 14 years in Ireland that I am looking over my shoulder...
“The last few days are the first time after 14 years in Ireland that I am looking over my shoulder,” he said, “I’m in Kilkenny, and I'm looking over my shoulder. Kilkenny is my town, that’s the place I will walk with my son, with my Irish partner; it’s unsettling.”
On Wednesday, Kilkenny International football club hosted Carlow Community Football in a friendly match at the Freebooters Pitch on Gaol Road. Amanda DeBurca from Kilkenny Leader Partnership explained that Kilkenny International began informally three years ago as a social and fitness outlet for refugees awaiting work permits.
“It can be a bit tricky,” she said, “because people’s situations change and also if they start working or some people get a job in another town and have to move away. There’s always new people moving in, which can be good and can have its challenges. Some of the members – Akeem [Olawale Lawal] and Tobi [Taiwo] – would have been there since we first started doing it, and they've really emerged as the kind of captains.”
Ms DeBurca continued that they have identified a floodlit soccer league in Kilkenny, but Kilkenny International is not quite ready to join. She noted that the league is competitive and, for various reasons, it has been difficult to secure a coach.
“Last year, we had a woman named Remi [Khadijai Elamah] who worked as a coach, and she had a background in sports fitness,” she said.
"She trained them up and got them ready for the match against State Street. It was interesting because she really did a great job, but sadly she’s moved to Dublin. It was amazing having her on board. They really respected her and listened to her.”
For now, Ms DeBurca said, “we’ve found what works well is finding other groups to play friendly matches against.” The team recently purchased kit, which was designed by Muhammad Sabir, from Afghanistan, who works with the Kilkenny Leader Partnership.
Proceedings were delayed as Carlow scrambled to make up numbers for a team, but, in the inclusive spirit of the week, Kilkenny spotted Carlow a few players, and the match kicked off. Despite facing off against some of their own teammates, Kilkenny International showed no mercy and secured a four-nil victory.
On Wednesday evening, the film Souleyman’s Story – which follows a Guinean immigrant working as a delivery driver in Paris in the lead-up to his asylum application interview – was screened at the Watergate Theatre.
On Thursday, Irish-Syrian journalist Razan Ibraheem spoke at the Mayfair Library on her love for Irish music and literature, the Syrian Revolution, coming to Ireland to study, and her work as a journalist with Storyful and the New York Times.
In 2023, she worked with fellow University of Limerick graduate Malachy Browne on a New York Times investigation that proved Russia was bombing Syrian hospitals. Closing her presentation, Ms Ibraheem said: “We are not numbers. Refugees are not numbers. There are human stories behind every refugee. These are stories of resilience, courage, and determination.”
Festivities culminated with a celebration at Watergate Urban Park on Thursday afternoon. Entertainment was provided by Kilkenny Global Dance Club, Ukrainian choir Grono, the South Sudanese song and dance troupe, Irish folk duo Cré, and Rhythm Makers Samba drumming workshop. Food from Palestine, Gambia, Ukraine and Syria was provided by local businesses.