Racism has been brought to the fore in light of recent events over in America, with people all around the world waking up to the fact that it's actually a global issue and cannot be attributed to just one country or peoples.
Calling for people to take a closer look at the systems in place in their own communities, many Irish people are only learning about the realities of the Direct Provision system now for the first time.
A system used to house asylum seekers in Ireland, approximately 7,000 people are living in direct provision centres across the country - many of which have no cooking facilities. Adults receive a weekly allowance of just €38.80 a week while children receive €28.90 and people often live in shared spaces with little regard for privacy.
A number of Instagram pages have been launched in recent weeks to help educate the public further on the issue - one of which includes
DP Donations Galway. Set up as a way to aid those living in direct provision centres in Galway, their first main collection will take place on Saturday, June 20th in the Black Box Theatre car park, with several other mini collection points due to take place across the county in the coming weeks as well.
The full list of confirmed Galway locations includes:
- 17th June Old Pres Carpark in Athenry 7-8pm
- 17th June Oranmore Astroturf Carpark 7-8pm
- 17th June Fuarán Carpark Moycullen 7-8pm
- 18th June Oughterard Car Park 2-4pm
- 19th June Emerald Ballroom Ballinasloe 6-7pm
- 19th June Letterfrack carpark 11am-12.30pm
- 19th June Clifden public carpark 2-4pm
- 20th June Black Box Theatre Carpark (beside the theatre) 1-2.30pm
As for what to donate, items that are most needed include toiletries, sanitary products, cleaning products, suncream, toothbrushes/toothpaste, dry snacks, baby products and vouchers for local supermarkets.
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