Fr Pat Raleigh reports on a recent celebration of the outreach work and ministry to migrants of the Columban Centre in Dublin.
On Tuesday, 23 July, at the invitation of Fr Ray Husband, Regional Director, we gathered for a coffee morning to reflect on the outreach work of the Columban Centre on Store Street, Dublin.
While we can look back with gratitude on the work of the Centre, there was also a sadness to the occasion. In March of this year we received word that Martin Farrelly, the owner of the premises, had plans to sell the building. He very much regretted having to make this decision. Martin had made the place available at a very reasonable rate. We owe a huge debt of gratitude to Martin and his family.
From the very beginning the Columban Centre was a joint venture with the Columban Sisters and Columban Lay Missionaries. It is fair to say that the Columban Sisters through the efforts and initiative of Srs Monica Kelly and Kathleen McGrath were the driving force to get the initiative off the ground.
While there was a sadness attached to the gathering on 23 July, coming together gave us the opportunity to share what it meant to work at the Centre. Michael O’Sullivan, Claire Carey, Columban Sisters Monica Kelly and Lucia So who were an integral part of the outreach work of the Centre from the beginning were all present.
Sr Monica Kelly
What was nice about the occasion was that each one was invited to share what it meant to work at the Centre.
A Place of Welcome and Inclusion
All were in agreement that it was a great place to work and to experience the living out in practice the priorities of Columban Mission especially in the area of reaching out to migrants. From the very beginning the priority of the Centre was to help people with English language classes. It was more than an English language outreach Centre. It also engaged in reaching out to people pastorally through Interfaith dialogue and highlighting areas of injustice that some of the participants were experiencing in their places of work.
Angie Escarsa, Fr Pat Raleigh and Claire Carey
The beginnings
In 2001, a group started the Migrant Rights Centre in the basement of the Stella Maris building, which was an outreach Centre to Seafarers who would arrive in Dublin for a few days. Our thanks to Rose Kearney of the Legion of Mary and the Seafarers Club for making available the basement area.
It was very central, being near the Bus Station. Its one big drawback was that it got easily flooded. We referred to it as the Pilgrim Space. English classes were a way of connecting with migrants and listening to their stories as well as helping them to integrate into Irish society. English classes were the backbone of the outreach of the Centre.
Volunteers
From the very beginning there were a very dedicated group of volunteers whose main focus was the teaching of English. I wish to offer a sincere thanks to all the Volunteers for their outstanding work and dedication. On the occasion of my weekly visits to the Centre I had the pleasure of meeting many of the volunteers like Srs Mary Connaughton OLA, Sr Maura Nally and Sr Mary Nolan, Columban Sisters. There were many others whose names escape me, but I offer them a sincere thanks. The Volunteers were all experienced teachers.
Claire Carey and Fr Liam O’Callaghan
The student participants
They came from Lithuania, Romania, Iraq, Brazil, Afghanistan, Czech Republic, Kurdistan Poland, Venezuela, North Korea to name but a few. There was always a steady stream of visitors from China, Korea, the Philippines, areas where Columbans have been or are on mission.
A Centre of Transformation.
The Columban Centre has transformed the lives of many over a period of twelve years. The students have seen the Centre not just as a place to learn English but a supportive and welcoming place in a large city’. Many have now moved on and have found new confidence in speaking English and indeed in their own self-confidence. The Columban Centre has given people new hope and a new sense of belonging.
The Coffee morning in Dalgan gave us the opportunity to meet and to share some stories of the importance the Columban Centre has played not only in our own lives but in the lives of migrants. It has given people new hope and confidence.
A very special thanks to all the volunteer teachers, to Claire Carey, Michael O’Sullivan, Angie Escarsa, Srs Monica Kelly, Lucia So, Mary Nolan, Mary Connaughton, Maire Nally and all the Volunteers.
Last but not least a special thanks to the Columban Sisters and Columbans in leadership who supported this very worthwhile project. A big thanks to all who supported it financially.
A big thank you to Martin Farrelly the owner of the premises on Store Street for his support. One phase has ended but hopefully a new initiative will emerge. It has been a pleasure to have been associated with the Columban Centre.