Baldoyle United Club Welcomes Refugees

Throughout June, July and August, Dublin football club Baldoyle United has hosted weekly training sessions for refugee and asylum seekers living in Hatch Hall, Hatch St accommodation centre.

The initiative is supported by Show Racism the Red Card and manager Martin from Hatch Hall.  Every Saturday afternoon the club’s astro facilities are being enjoyed by a group of 10-15 men aged 19 to 40 from the city’s accommodation centre.  FAI-qualified coaches from Baldoyle Utd including Justin Reilly, Dave Elliott, Rob Ranson and Dermot Penrose have helped sharpen the skills of the group in a fun and friendly environment.  Each session finishes with a friendly match.

Club PRO Dave Nutley said:

“We are delighted to have the lads out each week.  They are from all around the world – Afghanistan, Ghana, Congo.  You can see they really enjoy the few hours out in Baldoyle and appreciate the opportunity to have a bit of fun playing football.  One of the lads said we could sign him for €10 million but his price is dropping every week!”

The club plans to continue the weekly sessions and will be playing a friendly match against local players in the coming weeks.

Baldoyle United is a sports club at the heart of the northside community and recently picked up an FAI Community Club award and Fingal County Council Community Group of the Year award.  The club provides football for boys and girls of all ages. To get involved as a player or coach contact the club by email: baldoyleunited@yahoo.ie or text: Dave Nutley at 086 023 1420.

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Ballaghaderreen FC Welcomes Refugees

Ballaghaderreen FC are currently running opening training evenings for Under 14 &16  boys once a week. This is in it’s 9th week and hopefully will continue depending on funding which covers the running cost of the club. Currently all our club players pay a small fee to attend each week.

On Monday the 10th July, we organized a friendly game against our under 16 team and a group of a similar age from the EROC center (Refugee Accommodation Centre). This was played in good spirits and a return game was played on Monday 18th. Part of the plan with the training days is one adult accompanies the youths from the center and in turn we have paid for Nadir to attend Safe Guarding 1 course. The second adult Abdul will hopefully do the same and the club will cover the cost.

It is my hope for both to continue working with us and in turn get them to attend PDP 1 & 2.  This I hope will be funded from some organization. From working with the refugees in the past it is so important we build a good relationship with Nader and Adbul as they are a great contact to have in the center. This is why any funding we receive will help us integrate the refugees into the community through sport.

 

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Galway GAA Club Welcomes Refugees

Gael na Gaillimh ‘Team Together’ July 14th 2018 Report

Gael na Gaillimh GAA club in Galway City held a ‘Team Together’ event on July 14th 2018. This event was supported by Show Racism the Red Card and involved an open day, where members of our community were invited to come and learn the basic skills and have some fun. The ultimate aim was to promote awareness about the club and promote our inclusive ethos, letting all community members know they were welcome to join.

Specific effort was made in advance to link with socially excluded groups in our community. Namely, those living in direct provision. In order to achieve this, we linked with local initiatives such as ‘Walk the Talk’ a local group aiming to promote social integration of asylum seekers through sport, as well as the University of Sanctuary and ‘Fáilte Refugees’ local groups. Collaboration was also made with Amach, the Galway LGBT volunteer run organisation which represents and advocates on behalf of the LGBTI+ community in Galway city and county. The event was hosted in partnership with Amach and Gael na Gaillimh.

The event itself was a great success. 30 individuals attended which included existing members from Gael na Gaillimh’s women and men’s teams, and many new people from all over the world, including residents from two direct provision centres in Gawlay city. The day began with an introduction to the basic skills of Gaelic football and was followed by a mini tournament. A social event was held in the evening and catering was provided by One World Tapestry, a non-profit organization which aims to create a space for people to come together through food and experience an inclusive community while working with asylum seekers to help them use their own skills through volunteering.

Overall, this partnership are encouraged that this has been a good first step to promote inclusion and invite new members to our club. Moving forward, we will maintain these links and open communication to hopefully encourage people to continue playing with us and invite new members in the future also. We are very grateful for the support of Show Racism the Red Card, without whom, this event would not have happened.

SRTRC are engaging clubs around the country as part of our Club Welcome Refugees programme, which is supported by St Stephen’s Green Trust.  Currently we have 8 clubs who have registered to participate and some of them have already delivered their activities.  We will be posting reports updating on progress of  implementation of this programme

For more information- http://theredcard.ie/clubwelcome/

 

 

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Anti Racism Creative Competition Awards 2018

Today, over 350 young people from 30 schools and youth services gathered at Tallaght Stadium for the 9th Annual Show Racism the Red Card Creative Competition awards.  A showcase of art, poetry and multimedia creativity was on display.

Check out just a sample of the media coverage from the day: https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/soccer/international/martin-o-neill-christie-abuse-shows-racism-still-rife-in-football-1.3479463?mode=amp&__twitter_impression=true

https://www.independent.ie/sport/soccer/international-soccer/its-something-we-have-to-highlight-martin-oneill-lends-support-to-cyrus-christie-after-racist-abuse-ordeal-36861844.html

Continue reading

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Anti-racism charity releases infographic ahead of UN Anti-Racism Day

Anti-racism charity releases infographic ahead of UN Anti-Racism Day

 – Calls on Government to increase investment in integration –

On the eve of the United Nations (UN) International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, Irish anti-racism charity, Show Racism the Red Card (SRtRC) have released an infographic highlighting its work to tackle racism in Ireland.

The UN International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination is observed annually on 21st March, with activities and events taking place across the globe.

Speaking ahead of the international day, Garrett Mullan, Executive Director of SRtRC today (20.03.18) said: “The UN International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination is the perfect time for us to take stock on the work that SRtRC has been able to do to challenge racism.

 

“To mark this important day, we are releasing an infographic to highlight the amount and scope of work that SRtRC achieved, since 2017.”

Since the beginning of 2017:

  • 3,878 football players took part in SRtRC actions during the ‘Football Against Racism in Europe’ fortnight;
  • 332 student teachers and teachers completed the SRtRC online training;
  • 7,082 school students have participated in SRtRC workshops; and
  • 200 schools and youth services participated in the Anti-Racism Creative Competition 2018.

“Whilst we are proud what we have achieved in this time, we are calling on Government to increase the Integration Funds and the Community Integration Fund, so as to allow organisations like SRtRC to sustain the impact of their work,” continued Mr Mullan. “In 2007, Government allocated €9.2m for integration but only spent €3.2m. The amount allocated has since been reduced to €1.1 million, leaving anti-racism organisations with limited resources with which to tackle racism in Ireland.”

For further information on how to get involved, please contact info@theredcard.ie

 

 

 

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Education against racism evaluation surveys

To assess our work, so we can improve our offer, we are launching three surveys to stakeholders for feedback.  They surveys are short and will take no longer than 5 minutes.

For our Education Pack survey, please go to https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/2YLH8PH

For our Teachers/ Educators survey, please  go to: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/MX5JHJK

For our Pupils survey, please go to: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/MNCVNY5

 

 

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Awards to clubs who welcome refugees

             Club Welcome plaque presentation award

The presentation of Club Welcome plaques to conclude our Club Welcome Refugees programme will take place next Tuesday with Minister of State David Stanton TD presenting a plaque of appreciation to five sports clubs.

Pictured: participants in the Show Racism the Red Card Club Welcome programme activities at Booth Road Celtic FC, Ballaghaderreen GAA club and Sligo Rovers FC

The pilot of this programme was completed during 2016-2017 and is in recognition that sport has a big role to play in promoting integration.  The five clubs receiving awards have carried out a programme of sustained work which will contribute to integration of refugees within Ireland.

The programme was supported by the Community Foundation and the Ireland Funds and ran between 2016 and 2017.  Thanks to support from the St Stephens Green Trust, we will be continuing this pilot programme and develop it as well as increase the number of clubs involved.  We will be putting out a call for involvement in the 2018 programme shortly.

The Club Welcome awards are being presented at 12: 30pm, Tuesday 23rd January 2018 in the Carmichael Centre, North Brunswick Street, Dublin 7

The five clubs are:  Booth Road Celtic FC, Dublin 22, Ballinacurra Gaels GAA club, Limerick, Ballaghaderreen GAA club Roscommon, Emo Celtic, Co Laois and Sligo Rovers.

-Sligo Rovers delivered coaching sessions freely accessible to residents in Globe House, once a week over 20 weeks.  Sligo Rovers not only offered training sessions for residents  of Globe house but we also organised fully qualified coaches and also organised friendlies for the residents of Globe House against local grass root clubs in Sligo.

-Booth Road Celtic Football Club hosted an open coaching evening with the FAI inviting residents from the Towers Accommodation Centre and also engaged with residents of the accommodation centre to identify and accommodate access for children in the centre to participate at different levels of the club including the club academy on Saturday mornings for children aged 4-7 and under 8’s to under 14s schoolboy teams.

-Emo FC have provided free access to their all- weather facilities to residents in Montague House and also made a policy decision to allow free membership to their club to children of asylum seekers, in recognition of financial barriers.

-Ballinacurra Gaels GAA club in Limerick engaged with local support agency Doras Luimni and have organised ‘Have a Go’ days specifically with children of asylum seekers and refugees.

-Ballaghaderreen organised a club blitz involving some Syrian refugees (pictured above) and also a trip to Croke Park for the All- Ireland final between Roscommon and Mayo.  The club now has Syrian refugees training with the Under 18’s football team.

Media Coverage Report

 

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Wear Red Day report 2017

24th November marked the second annual Wear Red Day against racism hosted by Show Racism the Red Card.  The programme called for participants to register activities for the day where those involved were invited to wear red, collect donations and deliver other activities to show their support.

Upon registration, participants received an organiser pack which included leaflets, posters, red cards, stickers and template press release and announcements.  23 schools and 12 other groups participated.  Check out this link for the full report

WRC17 Report1-ilovepdf-compressed (1) (3)

 

 

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FARE fortnight report 2017

5th – 19th October 2017 was FARE fortnight.  FARE (Football Against Racism in Europe) is a UEFA supported initiative in which actions take place inviting participation in all affiliates to take action and support the anti-racism message and to spread the word that Football People support.

Here are some highlights of the fortnight. Click below for the full report.

  • 11th year of FARE fortnight in Ireland
  • More participants than ever before.
  • 4 SSE Airtricity League Clubs involved
  • 58 Grassroots clubs with 3878 players involved
  • 4082 young people participated in workshops
  • Coverage in local and national media
  • Promoting the message of #EqualGame #TackleRacism #SRTRC

FARE fortnight report 2017-ilovepdf-compressed (2)

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Joint Statement with PFA Ireland in response to racist abuse tweets to Cyrus Christie

Ireland’s James McClean is to be commended for speaking out about racist comments aimed at team mate Cyrus Christie in the aftermath of Ireland’s play- off with Denmark. The statement from Show Racism the Red Card (SRTRC) and Professional Footballers Association Ireland (PFA Ireland) comes after McClean revealed the racist tweets directed at Cyrus Christie.
Christie’s teammate, James McClean, revealed the existence of the tweets at Saturday evening’s PFA Ireland awards in Dublin, citing it as an example of what the team had been subjected to in the immediate aftermath of the game. He said that Christie, already deeply upset over the outcome of the game, had shown the messages to other players in the dressing room at the Aviva stadium.
“We spoke afterwards and it really got to a few players,” said McClean in an interview on stage after he had been presented with the award for Overseas Player of the Year.
Alleged racist comments have been referred by the FAI to the Gardai for investigation. The tweet urged him to go to Jamaica and boasted about wanting to lynch him.
Garrett Mullan (Show Racism the Red Card) said: “There is no place for racism in sport or on social media. We welcome the fact that the FAI and Gardai are taking action but social media outlets also have a role to play in responding to racism.
As important as reporting such vile incidents is the support that someone receives from those around and in this case, it is clear that Cyrus Christie’s team mates have been affected by this incident. We welcome the fact that James McClean has shone a light on to some of the nasty elements out there. His support for his fellow team mate will help the team and Cyrus in particular, to emerge stronger from this incident”.
Stephen Mc Guinness, General Secretary of the PFA Ireland: “We fully support all efforts to stamp out racism from the game and that includes comments targeting players on social media. The nature of this incident is really shocking and no player should be subjected to that and we hope that the perpetrator is called to account. This incident should serve as a message to all involved in the game from grassroots upwards that racism needs a response from authorities and team mates. It cannot be ignored”.

Contact: Garrett Mullan (Director SRTRC) @ 0863927650
Notes to Editors:
About Show Racism the Red Card
Show Racism the Red Card is an international anti-racism charity that was founded in the UK in 1995 with a £50 donation from Newcastle United’s Shaka Hislop.  The Irish branch was established in 2006.  The aim of Show Racism the Red Card is to harness the high profile of sportspeople to combat racism.  The organisation works to produce anti-racism educational resources, and to educate young people through workshops and coaching activities. Further information is available at: www.theredcard.ie

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