Cllrs hail work of migrant support organisation

Councillors praised those who made the presentation on behalf of Cultur.

Council Cathaoirleach Cllr Sean Drew said that a number of months ago he had been invited to the Cultur Centre and a presentation had been made there. As a result of that presentation, he had been informed about what the organisation was doing within the county.

Aontu Cllr Emer Tóibín said the organisation did “tremendous work”. “There is no doubt, you have a job of work to do”. She had a question about the amnesty that was about to end in July and which Minister for Justice Helen McEntee had brought in. She said that in her own office quite a number of people came in trying to set up PPS numbers. These were people who had been in the country a number of years and were anxious to avail of the amnesty.

Cllr Sarah Reilly said the presentation to the councillors had been excellent and very informative. She said she had heard members of the delegation saying they had helped people with CV preparation and wondered if this service was widely available.

Cllr Maria Murphy (below) said she wanted to thank Cultur members for the work they do and added that Navan was very fortunate in having the organisation in its midst. She thanked them for the online sessions they had organised during Covid. She said she had engaged with one session and found it very valuable in that it helped councillors engage with diverse groups that they might not come in contact with very often. “It certainly educated me and it spurred me to go through LMETB to the Department of education to look for extra resources, not only for children with special needs but also for parents whose first language might not be English. Please keep pushing out the information to us”. Cllr Murphy asked about English classes for under-18s.

Cllr Yemi Adenuga, a member of the board of Cultur, said she was extremely proud of the work done at Cultur. It was the only organisation raising issues that concerned minorities. She said that Africa Day was coming up on 21st of this month at Claremont Stadium in Navan and she invited everyone to come along.

Cllr Aisling O’Neill said she wanted to make the point that it was “embarrassingly obvious” the way the Ukrainian refugees had been treated as against those in direct provision. It was blatantly obvious at this stage that things needed to change. “The whole system needed to change. Direct provision was a system that removed people’s dignity.”

She totally disagreed with a system which prevented people from working when they arrived in this country. People became institutionalised and were afraid to make the next step. She asked councillors to keep the pressure on TDs to find a different system.