Introducing Rebecca Keatinge, founding member of the new D8 refugee community sponsorship group

My name is Rebecca. I’ve been living in Dublin 8 on and off for over 20 years. I live now just off South Circular Road with my husband and three young kids. We love the area and enjoy its rich diversity and personality.

I’m involved in D8 Refugee Community Sponsorship for a few different reasons.

I worked for a long time with refugees and asylum seekers helping them secure legal permission to reside, and also family reunification. Most had experiences of real trauma from which they fled and had awful experiences on their journey to safety. They were all resilient and most successfully built new, settled lives, working and living in their new communities.

In recent years I found myself getting frustrated with keyboard warriors anonymously spouting hate against ‘others’. Instead of wasting energy on this, I’m putting my energies into Community Sponsorship as a positive and concrete expression of solidarity with people forced to leave their homes and migrate for safety. It is a way that we as a community can give a new welcoming home to family who needs it, a family that otherwise might have to decide that the boat is safer than the land.

I’ve already learnt a lot and am really enjoying the experience of being in this energetic community group. The interest and support of the group even in the first few days has been hugely exciting.

This project is a way we can express our collective kindness and openness. Please consider getting involved and supporting this project with your time or a donation!