Launch of the SPIRASI Strategic Plan & 2005 Annual Report

Despite the inclement weather, more than 60 guests attended the Launch of the SPIRASI Strategic Plan, 2007-2009 and the 2005 SPIRASI Annual Report on the first floor of the SPIRASI building on the North Circular Road. The event was attended by representatives of the Health Services Executive from Dublin and Cork, Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, FÁS, Free Legal Advice Centres, Reception and Integration Agency, Refugee Legal Services, and the Refugee Information Services.

The purpose of the occasion was outlined and the three speakers were introduced with warm words of welcome from the Director of SPIRASI, Father Michael Begley.

Fr. John Coleman, recently appointed chair of the SPIRASI Board, used the occasion to inform the assembly - to great applause - that the guest of honour for the day, the South African Ambassador to Ireland, Priscilla Jana, had accepted an invitation to join the Board of SPIRASI.

In his short address, John Grindle, a development consultant, and facilitator for the SPIRASI Strategic Plan, 2007-2009 light-heartedly likened the process leading to the publication of the Strategic Plan to the long gestation of the baby elephant who was recently born in Dublin zoo!

Finally, it was the turn of our special guest of honour, Her Excellency, Ms. Priscilla Jana, the South African Ambassador to Ireland, to address the assembly. Her speech focused on the reality of violence throughout the world and on the corrosive effects that violence has on people who have experienced it. She gave special mention to the violence which is systematically perpetrated by militias and state forces, resulting in the devastation of many lives and whole populations living in fear. Her words were moving and inspiring and she communicated her insights with a sense of passion and sincerity as they were based on her own personal experiences living under the apartheid regime in South Africa. She closed her address with a quote from a recent poem called "Help" that deals with the experiences of immigrants in Ireland who are in need of help:

I cry for help
"Palidziba" but nobody answers because I am Latvian.
"Ajuto" I cry but nobody turns because I am Romanian.
"Nomo !!! " I plead but I am ignored because I am Russian.
"Appi" I scream but I am invisible because I am Estonian.
"Help" I whisper and my country comes running.

The Director then invited Anthony Geoghegan, the SPIRASI webmaster, to formally launch the newly designed SPIRASI web-site. Ambassador Jana then distributed the printed copies of the SPIRASI Strategic Plan, 2007-2009 and the 2005 SPIRASI Annual Report to the guests. Afterwards, the guests had the opportunity to socialise with each other while enjoying food and drink that had been laid on for the occasion.

Special thanks go to the team of SPIRASI staff who did an excellent job organising this very successful event.