Archived SPIRASI News - 2006

Note: The following archived news items appear in reverse chronological order as that is how they are added to the front page of the SPIRASI web-site.

Launch of EPIC Project - 20th November

EPIC, the Employment for Parents of Irish-born Children is a new project that SPIRASI are working on in partnership with Business in the Community, Ireland. The aim of the programme is to provide the parents of Irish born children with training and education with the goal of eventually placing them in long term employment. The programme is being officially launched by the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice, Equality & Law Reform, Mr. Michael McDowell, T.D., on Monday 20th November 2006 at 2.45 pm sharp at Bank of Ireland, House of Lords, College Green, Dublin 2 and all are welcome to attend

SPIRASI Marathon Team hit the streets of Dublin

The SPIRASI Marathon Team successfully participated in the 2006 Dublin City Marathon. Staff member, Deogratias Ladislas Ndakengerwa completed the 26.2 mile race in 2 hours 48 minutes and over the next few hours he was followed by his five SPIRASI team mates. At the same time a small bunch of committed volunteers helped SPIRASI by giving up their bank holiday Monday to collect money on the streets. Along with the sponsorship raised by the marathon runners, it was a very successful fund-raising day for SPIRASI.

SPIRASI Team for the 2006 Dublin City Marathon - 30th October

The first ever SPIRASI marathon team — currently comprising three staff members and five volunteers — will participate in the 2006 Dublin City Marathon on the Bank Holiday Monday (30th October) in order to raise much needed funds for SPIRASI.

Publication of Scheme for Proposed New Immigration Bill - 6th September

On the 6^th September, The Dept. of Justice published the scheme for a new single law called the Immigration, Residence and Protection Bill which is intended to replace current legislation dealing with asylum seekers and refugees. In the accompanying press release, the Minister of Justice stated that the proposed new bill restates the commitments of the Irish state to the Geneva Convention on Refugees as enshrined in the Refugee Act 1996 but provides for change in the methods of delivering on those commitments. The Refugee Appeals Tribunal is to be scrapped and the Office of the Refugee Applications Commissioner is to be the incorporated into a broader body, the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service which will deal with all immigration and refugee matters.

In April 2005, a discussion document was published by the the Dept. of Justice which invited comment on the form that this proposed legislation might take and SPIRASI responded to this with a submission addressing matters that would be relevant to the situation of asylum seekers and survivors of torture. The Minister for Justice will also speak at the upcoming Changing Shades of Green conference.

Dance Saves Lives

BBC Radio 4 recently broadcast a five-part series of 15 minute documentaries about the therapeutic properties of dance. The first episode (broadcast on Monday 21st August 2006) featured interviews with two SPIRASI clients who had participated in the Fall and Recover modern dance performance and they describe how the experience helped them recover from the trauma they had suffered. The show also features John Scott who produced and choreographed the successful Fall and Recover. The documentary is available for listening on the BBC website for seven days after transmission. The producer of the series, Frances Byrnes also wrote an accompanying article based on their story on the BBC News web-site.

Technical Note: The audio stream from the BBC website requires that you have Real Player installed on your computer. If you don't have Real Player or if the broadcast is no longer available on the BBC web-site, you can download and listen to a saved copy of the show in MP3 format (3.7MB).

Changing Shades of Green - 13th October

SPIRASI is participating in a conference on Friday 13th October titled Changing Shades of Green. The conference sets out to explore the issues, challenges and opportunities presented by an increasingly multicultural Ireland and is organised by the Department of Mission Theology and Cultures of the Milltown Institute in association with SPIRASI and the Irish Missionary Union. To register for the conference, download the appplication form, print and return to Dr. Patrick Claffey of the Milltown Institute, Dublin 6.

Damhsa - Benefit Concert in Aid of the CCST - 7th September

Conforming in Diversiform - Exhibition - 24th August

SPIRASI in collaboration with the Crow Gallery is holding an exhibition of the work of Nigerian sculptor Mike Ogaga Owairu. Titled Conforming in Diversiform, this exhibition expresses the artist's relationship with movement and dance as a driving force of change in his life.

The launch of the exhibition takes place on the 24th of August at 6pm and will be opened by John Haskins of the Reception & Integration Agency. (Refreshments will be provided). The exhibition will be held on the First Floor of the Crow Gallery at 6 Crow Street, Temple Bar, Dublin.

Relaunch of SPIRASI Art Project - July 2006

In 2005 SPIRASI completed two successful pilot art projects. The first project was an exploration of artistic expression using digital technology and the other — a video project — will be showcased at the Dún Laoghaire Festival of World Cultures in August.

In June 2006 Spirasi re-launched the art project with the appointment of Art Project Coordinator, Anne Walsh. Anne has just started an exciting programme of art projects which are intended to continue over the next two years.

The first of these projects — a story-telling workshop — began on July 27^th. Titled Shortening the Road, it will introduce the practice of story telling in Ireland and it will invite participants to share stories from their own cultures that have been handed down to them as children. Participants will also have opportunities to create their own stories as a form of creative expression and in a very sociable and fun atmosphere.

Future projects include drama, web design, photography, video, music and visual art. If you would like to attend or sponsor any of these workshops please contact Anne at SPIRASI (Ph: 8389664, 8823535).

World Refugee Day Awards 2006

Each year on World Refugee Day, awards are given to celebrate Ireland as a country of welcome for asylum and refuge seekers and to highlight the positive contribution that asylum seekers and refugees have made to the local communities where they live. Last year Catherine Butler (working with the CCST) received an award and this year SPIRASI are delighted to announce that another staff member, Deo Ladislas Ndakengerwa received an award - in the "Health and Welfare" category. Two volunteers with SPIRASI were also short-listed for nominations in the "Health and Welfare" and "Community and Environment" categories.

Response to Afghani hunger-strike - 26th May

Between Sunday 14th and Saturday 20th May, roughly 40 Afghani asylum seekers carried out a hunger strike in St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin in protest against the unfairness of the Irish asylum process. Among the hunger strikers were a number of SPIRASI clients who had been receiving therapeutic and rehabilitation services as survivors of torture. The following statement is based upon the experience of SPIRASI staff in dealing with clients in the aftermath of the strike from a psychological and emotional perspective which was otherwise missing from mainstream media coverage of these events.

RefIreland Online Directory - May 2006

In 2002, SPIRASI published the Refworld Ireland Directory as a small paperback listing the many organisations that were working with immigrants in Ireland. It proved to be a useful resource for all organisations working with immigrants such as community groups, support groups, NGOs, governmental agencies, and other organisations providing support and services to migrants such as health, information, education and welfare. The directory provided a convenient means to find the groups working in these sectors, to learn about the work they do and how they can be contacted.

We are now updating our directory listings with the aim of freely re-publishing this information on the Internet as the RefIreland online directory and will follow this up with a revised paperback edition later this year. If you or your organisation work with migrants and would like to be included in the new publication, please download, print, fill out and return the submission form - available in OpenDocument, MS Word and PDF format.

World Refugee Day Awards - May 2006

The World Refugee Day Awards take place on the 20th of June in the Civic Offices, Wood Quay. The awards highlight the positive contribution that asylum seekers/ refugees and the local community have made in the integration process and are a way of reflecting the positive interaction between people across Ireland.

This year we hope to receive even more nominations for people residing in Ireland who have made contributions at a local level whether working on their own or as part of an organisation. Examples of people who could be considered for nomination include local community and youth workers, teachers, business people, health workers, service providers and volunteers. The closing date for all nominations is Mon 8th May 06.

Women's Mini Marathon - May 2006

SPIRASI would like to invite you to help asylum seekers, refugees and survivors of torture. We are appealing for both women and men to walk/jog/run/crawl the 10km Flora Women’s Mini-Marathon that takes place on Monday June 5th, to raise money for SPIRASI. Although this is a women’s event, every year thousands of men don dresses/costumes/accessories to help raise money for their favourite charity.
(Closing date for entry has now passed - 25th April)

International Women's Day - 8th March

SPIRASI, on the occasion of the International Day of the Woman, March 08th, 2006 presents the testimony of Aichatou Ramdan Chafii, the political prisoner and tortured wife of human rights and Trade Union activist, Ali Salem Tamek.