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Tag Archives: Orla ní Éilí

Ní Eilí: More Ukrainians in Clare than official numbers suggest

FIGURES released last week show that 2,452 Personal Public Services Numbers (PPSN) have been issued to Ukrainians in Clare, but the numbe of arrivals here may actually be much higher. Orla Ní Éilí of the Clare Immigrant Support Centre said, “We’re a bit confused by the numbers, they’re based on PPS numbers, which people have to have. “But we can tell you in the hotels there are around 2,500 people at this stage and out in the community there are a lot more. We would say that Clare has had 10% of arrivals from the word go.” Should that be the case, then there would be approximately 3,500 Ukrainian refugees in the county. Ms Ní Éilí said that many people are still coming, with around 26 arriving on one day last week alone. Clare Immigrant Support Centre has never had to deal with a situation like this, with so many people arriving at one time, she said, while noting that …

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Clare Immigrant Support Centre welcomes introduction of Undocumented Regularisation Scheme

A LANDMARK scheme to regularise long-term undocumented migrants will transform the lives of many individuals and families living in Clare and all over Ireland, according to the Clare Immigrant Support Centre. The centre have welcomed the announcement of the scheme which will launch early in  2022 and be open for six months. The scheme proposes to regularise the immigration statuses of individuals with dependent children after three years of being undocumented in the State and individuals living in Ireland undocumented for at least four years by the time the scheme opens in 2022. Successful applicants will have the right to live, work engage in education and will also have a pathway to becoming Irish citizens. The scheme will also be open to individuals who have been in the international protection process for two years or more. According to Orla Ní Eilí from Clare Immigrant Support Centre this will be of great benefit to  reducing the large backlog of asylum seekers living …

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Sponsorship initiative for Clare people to help refugee families

HUMAN rights organisation Doras are collaborating with the Clare Immigrant Support Centre on a new community sponsorship initiative that will enable local groups to provide support for refugee families, writes Owen Ryan. The idea is that the groups would fundraise and help source accommodation for refugee families, who can then leave refugee camps in Lebanon for Clare. Orla Ní Éilí of the Clare Immigrant Support Centre said, “Essentially this is another stream operating from the Department of Justice and the Irish Refugee Protection Programme. In this one the idea is that individual groupings can come together, they need to fundraise, they need to prepare, they need to set all the things in place for a family to come to Ireland. The family would be coming from the Lebanon, they will probably be a Syrian family that’ll be living in a refugee camp. They’ll still be going through the screening and orientation process with the Department of Justice.” Ahmed Hassan will …

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Landmark ‘asylum seekers’ court decision

THE project manager at the Clare Immigrant Support Centre in Ennis has described this week’s Supreme Court finding that the ban on asylum seekers joining the working force is unconstitutional as “very significant”. The ban was appealed by a Burmese man who lived in Direct Provision for eight years, prior to being granted refugee status. The court adjourned making a formal order for six months, to allow the Dáil to address the issue. Ireland and Lithuania are the only EU member states with indefinite bans on the right to work, while the working group report to government on Improvements to the Protection Process, including Direct Provision, recommended that the right to work be brought in. The Irish Government has yet to implement the recommendation. “This is a very significant and welcome decision by the courts,” Orla Ní Éilí, who has worked in the Clare Immigrant Support Centre for 24 years, told The Clare Champion this week. “I remember in 1996, …

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Trump’s discriminatory comments ‘a disgrace’

ORLA Ní Éilí, co-ordinator of the Clare Immigrant Support Centre in Ennis, has expressed the hope that Donald Trump’s discriminatory views on Muslims, as expressed this week in the US, will not prevent people who practise the faith from being employed at the Trump-owned golf resort in Doonbeg. Trump advocated a total shut down of Muslims entering the US “until our country’s representatives can figure out what is going on”. Ms Ní Éilí said it is imperative that Trump’s views are not reflected in employment decisions made at Trump International Golf Links and Hotel Ireland in Doonbeg. “I know that here in Clare, where he is an employer, the people managing on the ground will have no such discrimination in their engagement of staff for the golf resort. If people of any background are the best people for the job, they should get it, irrespective of religion, creed or ethnicity. We need to tell him that he needs to not …

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