'Limerick never failed to make me feel at home': From Gaza to the Treaty City

Before moving to Limerick in August 2023 to study in Mary Immaculate College, Tamar had spent her entire life in the Gaza Strip

25-year-old Tamar Nijim said: 'Limerick never failed to make me feel at home. They made me feel like I didn't lose a family, but rather like I had more family. I always have angels that are like protecting me from any harm.' Picture: Brendan Gleeson

For 52 weeks, crowds in Limerick have come onto the streets as one to protest in support of Palestine. At one such event, on Bedford Row, 25-year-old Tamar Nijim met 44-year-old Philip Meaney, and thanked him for sharing a fundraising campaign set up to help her family.

Week after week, over the last year, the pair have been protesting together against the war and are now ‘best friends’.