Tipperary Welcomes

Tipperary Welcomes is a story you can tell two ways. You could say that, from the moment we decided to form a network to push back on the atmosphere of fear and hate in our county to the moment we published our first statement, we came together in twenty-four hours. And what a twenty-four hours they were, near sleepless for some, as we co-authored the statement, gathered signatures, planned our social media push and prepared a press release.It was the third time this year the eyes of the country were on Tipperary because an anti-migrant campaign tried to obstruct housing for refugees and asylum seekers, and we wanted everyone, especially our new neighbours, to know this loud, hateful minority do not and will never represent the vast majority of people if this county.

We published our statement with 20 organisations and 75 individual signatures, including a TD and three county councillors, from 13 towns and villages in Tipperary. The positive response was so overwhelming that we reopened signatures for a week. We ended up with 25 organisations and over 300 individual signatures, including two more county councillors, from 38 towns and villages in Tipperary. People continued reaching out after the deadline and we’re currently in the process of formalising our structure and values so we can keep growing and building solidarity both within and between our communities.

But the bigger story here starts with people who were often alone and isolated when they began to speak out against these campaigns, against the politicians who back them, and against those in both local and national media who are happy to hand the most hateful voices a megaphone. It was a dark and difficult year for a lot of us, enduring harassment and intimidation, threats and worse, while those who silenced us claimed to speak for us. More than fear, it was frustrating to have the political conversation in Tipperary dominated by the “concerns” of these groups while our endemic issues without housing, healthcare and education were either pushed to the side or used to justify anti-migrant backlash.

But it was a beautiful year too, because in speaking out, we found each other. Those twenty-four hours only happened because of six months of people reaching out to offer each other support. We pulled together so quickly because we had already been pulling together all year, sharing our experiences and figuring out how to fight for our communities without feeding the spectacle of these hate campaigns. We built solidarity by working together in and across our communities, directly supporting refugees and asylum seekers while fighting for the resources and services we need so everyone who lives here can flourish. We leaned on each other, learned from each other, and we’ve already had an impact.

If you take anything from our story, we hope it’s that bonds of compassion are always stronger than bonds of hate.