From Refugee to Refuge: Ireland’s Shining Example of Altruism

Ireland for much of the past five-hundred years has been a country that many have fled from to seek refuge in foreign lands.

The island that lies in the Celtic fringe was the first country and guinea pig of sorts for the British Colonial project. Genocide, both literal and cultural, forced many of the inhabitants of Eire to flee their homeland and enter new countries as immigrants and refugees. The United States, Canada, Australia, and Latin America received thousands upon thousands of Irish in need of new homes. In the mid-nineteenth century, the United Kingdom began a meticulous campaign with the end goal being the starvation of the Irish people.

Many Americans are familiar with the “Irish Potato Famine” which is a myth that there was a shortage of food on the island of Ireland, but in truth, it was a well-thought-out genocide. Ireland still produced a surplus of food, but the English shipped the vast majority of the fish, meat, and vegetables out of the country resulting in 750,000 deaths and two million departures on emigration ships. Ireland has still not recovered the population lost during “An Gorta Mor” or “The Great Famine.” More than half of these two million victims of state-sponsored genocide came to the United States through Ellis Island.

“Much of the world turned a blind eye to the unspeakable horrors unfurling in Ireland, but the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma did not. They raised $170 dollars for the emerald isle, a kindness that would be repaid in 2020 during the coronavirus pandemic when the Irish would raise over $2 million for the indigenous peoples of the United States.”

Throughout the next couple hundred years Ireland would continue to hemorrhage civilians due to British colonial violence and an unstable economy, but all that changed in the mid-1990s. The Irish economy miraculously soared to a never before known high. This period of economic growth was known as the “An Tíogar Ceilteach” or “Celtic Tiger”. Ireland finally was able to raise its population out of poverty and they decided to use their newfound economic prosperity for good.

The year is now 2023 and it has been 25 years since the Celtic Tiger and the Irish government have had a radical plan to accommodate refugees from across the world within their borders. In 2019 the Irish government began a new plan to rehabilitate a number of refugees that would increase by fifty each year. They have pledged to resettle 2,900 refugees by the end of 2023, the majority of these refugees arriving from Syria, Eritrea, and Ukraine.

What makes this ongoing commitment so remarkable is the circumstances that Ireland finds itself in. Ireland is amidst a massive housing and cost-of-living crisis. There is not enough affordable housing for Irish citizens and those who can find residence are suffering massively from expenses that come with being a homeowner or renter. Yet, despite this, the Republic of Ireland is continuing its support for its refugee program.

The Irish as a people have gone through so much turmoil, oppression, and hardship, and many across the world can trace their roots back to the diaspora that poured out of the Atlantic Island. But despite all this, the Irish are a true example of Altruism and generosity.

The Irish will always remember the conditions that forced so many of their own to flee, and in return, they will continue to offer homes to those fleeing violence and hardships in their own countries.