Spring Solidarity Dinner
Donation protected
After two successful dinners last year, Refugee and Migrant Solidarity Ireland (RAMSI) and Movement of Asylum Seekers in Ireland (MASI) are organising our first Solidarity Dinner of 2023 in collaboration with the Community Action Tenants Union (CATU) Spring school! Details will be released at a later stage, for now it is planned for the end of April in a venue located near Dublin city centre. Catering will be provided by the brilliant Cooking for Freedom team.
As we're entirely voluntarily run, we rely on the kind donations of folks to make these dinners as successful as possible. Like last time, can you help us pay for transport to the dinner for people in the international protection system living all around the country?
At previous dinners, we have used donated funds to cover:
- Transport of people in direct provision from over 20 accommodation centres across the country, including the provision of some minibuses. A large chunk of the donations are provided as reimbursement of bus and train tickets to get to the venue.
- Payment of musicians from the diaspora community and direct provision to provide music performance at the dinner.
- The building up of children’s play equipment, including toys, art equipment, books, and face painting material, as well as providing goodie bags for all the children in attendance.
- A year-long insurance policy
This time we are focused on transport and essentials:
- Train tickets and taxi fares (approx. €20-40 each)
- Some minibuses for isolated centres
- Other essentials (cutlery, cups etc.)
We're really looking forward to coming together around food, music, joy, conversation (and maybe even some dancing), to build community and break down the isolation and separation built into the Direct Provision (DP) system, as the government and a small but vocal few continue to try to drive a wedge between us.
As well as community connection, we will hear from inspiring speakers campaigning and building towards the end of the unjust treatment of those who come to Ireland for protection and refuge. We will also hear speakers from CATU who have been organising on the ground around housing, bringing communities together to take collective action so all of us can feel safe at home. We all need and deserve to have access to spaces of joy, fun, care and community.
Many of those who plan to attend the dinners are living in the Direct Provision system and amongst other things this means employment opportunities are very restricted. In the absence of access to fair work people in DP have to try to make do with just €38 a week. People in “pre-reception” don’t even have access to this basic amount. This means that expensive public transport is not really an option, especially for those who are living far away from Dublin in centres such as in Kerry or Mayo.
We strongly believe in transparency as a fundamental for organising, and are committed to letting donors know via social media what the fundraised money was used for.
Building friendships and being part of a supportive community is essential for all of us. And thank you so much to those long-time supporters of our solidarity dinners!
Many thanks and warm solidarity,
RAMSI, MASI and CATU.
Organizer
RAMSI and MASI
Organizer
County Dublin
