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April saw the graduation ceremony for over thirty refugee and migrant students from all over Ireland at Ireland’s fifth Sanctuary in Politics course. Sabir Zazai, CEO of Scottish Refugee Council and Chair of City of Sanctuary UK was the inspirational keynote speaker, and students were inspired by his testimony of arriving in Coventry from war torn […]

On Saturday 27th January the second All Ireland networking conference for local city of sanctuary groups and streams took place in Dublin. Hosted by the Irish School of Ecumenics, Ireland’s first Honorary Place of Sanctuary, the conference was a wonderful success, with representatives from at least fifteen cities, towns and counties up and down the

Dr Liam Thornton, UCD : We’re only paying lip service to asylum seekers’ right to work All change for asylum seekers?   Sorcha Pollak, Irish Times: Job options for asylum seekers under new scheme ‘exceptionally limited’  

The inaugural meeting of the UoSI Steering Committee took place on Thursday 7th December in DCU on the Glasnevin campus. Its aim is threefold: to validate applications from HEIs in Ireland applying for University of Sanctuary status; to develop a UoSI network to conduct research and share best practice; and to establish a new advocacy role

Monaghan is working towards becoming a Town and County of sanctuary. On 13th December they are launching the programme alongside a Celebration of Culture with story telling from a group of trained women. There is a strong sense of partnership and commitment in this group. Read here for more detail. Monaghan, in spite of its distance

Athlone Institute of Technology (AIT) has been designated as a College of Sanctuary in recognition of a range of initiatives demonstrating a commitment to welcoming asylum seekers and refugees into the college community and fostering a culture of inclusion for all.  The award was marked at a celebratory event held on campus which was attended

Communities, organisations and government bodies in Cork gathered together for their first meeting to set up a City of Sanctuary group on Wednesday 14th June, 2017 NASC, Cork Migrant Centre, Garda Siochana, Cork City Council, Cork Life Centre, Cork Area Partnership and asylum seekers and Refugees from Somalia and Sudanese community from around Cork attended this initial meeting.

Athlone IT, a midland college with global reputation and international students from over 60 countries, including Mid East and East Asia, has became the first College of Sanctuary in Ireland.   Places of Sanctuary Ireland visited Athlone IT on Monday 12th June. Staff members from AIT, members of local refugee and asylum seeker support group