How a Cork town opened its arms to refugees: 'You just need to love your community'

Fermoy group providing a blueprint for communities nationally in how to welcome refugees

Kate O'Connell, Vanessa McCarthy, Jane Jeffreys, Jenny O'Connor, Polly Egerton and Olga O'Mahony, all with Fermoy For All, sorting clothes for refugees. Picture: Jim Coughlan

A little girl twirled with delight in her double-breasted buttoned coat, a gift from strangers to ward off the Irish winter, before rushing upstairs in the refugee accommodation centre to show her pregnant mother.

She had fled danger in her homeland with her family and was given shelter in a disused old convent in Fermoy, Co Cork.

This moment of joy in a young life already fraught with difficulty is a small example of the work the local community group, Fermoy For All, is doing to help refugees and asylum-seekers feel welcome in their town.

The energy and empathy generated when people reach out to help each other is palpable in Fermoy.

More than 30 people gathered in a packed community hall on a cold night to thrash out plans and create supports for people seeking international protection there.

After staying for almost two hours, neighbours walked out into the dark night together, chatting and united around a common humanitarian goal.

Kate O'Connell and Polly Egerton of Fermoy For All. Picture: Jim Coughlan

They have introduced enthusiastic new residents to groups like Tidy Towns, local clubs, charities, and choirs. They have also forged new and deeper relationships between long-time residents, creating valuable social capital.

The Fermoy for All group could now provide a useful blueprint for communities nationally that want to help refugees and asylum seekers arriving in their towns.

Volunteers began their work by visiting the new accommodation centre, established in an old convent in Fermoy to welcome refugees and asylum seekers. They told them they’d be there to help — to answer questions, link them in with clubs and services and provide friendship and support — to be their neighbours.

They drew up a map with all the amenities and services in Fermoy — the schools, medical centres, parks, and swimming pool — so people would not feel so lost and overwhelmed.

“We went up and said ‘we’re your neighbours. We want to say that you’re welcome, and we’re going to keep coming here to help you figure out where all the things in the community are',” said Kate O’Connell, who helped spearhead Fermoy for All.

“We’re like the Fermoy Google,” fellow volunteer Polly Egerton said, describing the group’s role.

“They have the control, we’re just providing them with the local knowledge.

We try to see who they are, get to know them, and then figure out what their needs are.

“So for example, there’s a couple of women who are pregnant and someone’s helping them engage with local services, the HSE, very practical supports.

“And we talk to all the young people to see what specific interest they have and check if there’s something in the local community that we can match them up with.

“If they want to get involved in an activity, we meet them at the centre and bring them for the first one or two times until they know where they’re going to alleviate any potential fear.

“It’s just trying to show people what’s available, it’s very simple. It’s not necessarily something that requires huge amounts of money or energy or even time, it’s just a very practical and pragmatic approach to supporting them.

“And when I see someone on the street I make a big deal of saying ‘heya, how are you?’ Because it’s their home, and what makes you feel like you’re at home? When people greet you on the street,” Ms O’Connell said.

The group was formed in quiet defiance of a spate of anti-migrant and far-right protests in Fermoy since the convent accommodation centre was opened there last year.

Fears were manipulated and misinformation spread about people coming to claim asylum.

These protests “misrepresented” the majority mood in the town, Ms O’Connell said.

“We knew that was not what Fermoy was about.” 

Kate O'Connell, Fermoy For All. Picture: Jim Coughlan

A large counter-protest saw up to 300 people take to the streets to show solidarity with those seeking protection in Fermoy last December. 

“There’s a really significant network in the town of people who have clubbed together around this,” Ms O’Connell said.

“We don’t have a bean, not a single cent. But what we have are networks.

“So if someone says ‘this young person needs football boots so they can go to GAA’ that will go out in a text that gets circulated and invariably someone will come back and say ‘I have them’.” 

Paul Kavanagh of Fermoy Tidy Towns said refugees and asylum seekers have been enthusiastic to help with litter picking and flower planting, eager to find a way to contribute and give back.

“Women, men, children, they have all been out with us,” he said.

They just want to contribute, to be part of the community, to work. I’m so proud of these people, they are the pride of Fermoy.

“They want to give back to their community. We need more people to see that.” 

Fermoy Tidy Towns involvement began when members knocked on the door of a refugee accommodation centre and said ‘would you like some flower boxes?’ 

“They all wanted to get their hands dirty, to get involved. We were doing two big projects in the town, we were struggling to get them done, places were completely overgrown, and all of a sudden it was like this army arrived, they got stuck in and they were so happy. We couldn’t have done half the work without them.

“They have been hugely involved in Fermoy Tidy Towns. And the story I’m hearing from around the country is that they have been hugely involved elsewhere and so many towns have benefited. 

“They want to contribute. They don’t want to be a burden on anyone. Most of the Ukrainians are now working and we need workers.” 

A group of Nigerian women is constantly asking to volunteer in local charities, while many are also volunteering in a local community garden, Ms O’Connell said.

Efforts to welcome newcomers to the town have strengthened bonds between long-time residents too, who suddenly found themselves working together.

Mr Kavanagh said: “It’s making the community stronger. I’m meeting people here that I have not met before. It’s the community coming together and sharing their various skills.” 

Local clubs have been supportive, helping to remove barriers to entry and encouraging participation.

“We need everyone to open their arms and say ‘come on in.’ Fermoy is known for that, we have 69 clubs and associations in the town,” Mr Kavanagh said.

“We have four girls in a local sports club, they’re brilliant. They come down with their Loretto [school] jumpers on, I’m finding it hard to tell them apart. I think that’s great. They’re integrating. It’s beautiful to see it.” 

The reaction from refugees and asylum-seekers has also been “fabulous”, Ms Egerton said.

“I’m extremely proud of so many people in our community and how they’ve stepped up and come forward and done practical things to support the new members of the Fermoy community," she said.

“But what is also quite humbling is how welcoming they are of us. And with language limitations and a history of fear and persecution, for them to then be open and to engage with us and our community, it’s a really wonderful thing to see and be involved in.” 

A garage belonging to one of the volunteers was effectively turned into a free clothes shop.

“We started off with coats and boots. I put a shout-out on private Facebook groups to some other mums I know.

“I thought I was just asking a handful of people but the parcels kept arriving.” 

Clothes collections have been sent from as far as Wicklow and Dublin. One boutique has even donated all its sale stock to the people Fermoy for All is helping.

“A phenomenal amount of amazing, high-quality donations were given.

“We go in and lay it out, help people find the right sizes or meet what it is that they are looking for.

“People want to give and want to help in any way they can.” 

Ms O’Connell said new friendships have been forged through the group among people who did not know each other before. 

But old networks were also reactivated, with groups who campaigned for marriage equality coming together again to push for justice once more.

Ms Egerton said: “You can really see the social capital building. I feel it.

“We've been talking about how we can bring what we’re doing here in Fermoy to other towns that don’t have these initiatives in place yet.”

Polly Egerton of Fermoy For All sorting clothes for refugees who have arrived in the town. Picture: Jim Coughlan

Ms O’Connell said: “I get really invigorated, and I encourage other people, if there’s a centre coming into your town or village or you think there may be in the future, just start talking to people. There is so much goodwill out there and you’ll pull a group together really easily. It’s not as difficult or as technical as you’d think.

“You don’t need to be a social worker or a community worker, you just need to love your community.

“Everything else just falls into place.” 

Fermoy for All is now hoping to link up with other local organisations in North Cork for practical supports, like transport to school and transport to events.

The voluntary group does not have access to buses and does not have money.

“All our needs could be solved with a small amount of money but we’re a local voluntary group so don’t want to get into that,” Ms O’Connell said.

“We're hoping we can find help from a local organisation and see if they can step in to provide transport or facilitate the management of any donations or grants we may be able to get.

“We’ve done significant work around integration. There are just some small areas we’d like someone to step in on.” 

Although “the heat” has gone out of local anti-migrant protests in the town, the group has avoided social media platforms to protect itself from toxic comments and abuse, opting for more real-life meet-ups, phone contact and private networks instead.

A small but vocal minority of activists and trolls have increasingly co-opted the social media space, spreading hate and misinformation facilitated by the lax enforcement of community rules by tech companies.

Mr Kavanagh said: “The narrative before was ‘there’s going to be trouble’. But there hasn’t been any trouble. These people are brilliant, they just want to help and get involved.

“The kids are in schools. The Ukrainians are all working. It’s about education. 

We have shown in Fermoy that they are not taking jobs from people, they’re not taking people's social welfare. They’re not taking housing.

“Government needs to get out into communities and explain what’s happening,” Mr Kavanagh said.

“And help communities prepare,” Ms O’Connell said.

“I don’t think it should be about consulting communities as to whether there are [accommodation] centres or not, but giving people the heads up to say ‘in a few weeks, people will come’, which gives time for groups like ours to put things in place.

“The story of Fermoy is the story of us coming together. It's been hugely positive and more towns could do it too,” Ms O’Connell said.