Two LGBTQ refugees in Yalova, Türkiye, Mehdi and Nihal, are setting up their own group, From All Over. Bairbre Flood met them at their home to see why they need this group, and what life is like for LGBTQ refugees outside of Istanbul. Presenter Mahmoud Hassino also shares some of his personal experiences helping to organise a Mr Gay Syria event which was documented in a film by Turkish director...
Iya Kiva is a fantastic Ukrainian poet, translator and journalist. She’s been translated into several languages, and is the author of two poetry collections – ‘Further From Heaven’ and ‘The First Page of Winter’. She’s won numerous awards for her work including at the International Poetry Festival Emigrant Lyre, the LitAccent-2019 award, and many more. Iya had to leave Donetsk in 2014, when...
The beauty, power and wonder of the sea as told by ex-fishermen, marine ecologists and environmental activists. In ‘Blue Carbon: A Sea Story’ Bairbre Flood takes to the sea with Colin Barnes, Cork Whale Watch, on an ethical whale and wildlife tour, and meets with marine biologist Shazia Waheed, lobster fisherman Kieran O’Shea, and volunteers with the Bantry Bay Protect Our Native Kelp Forest...
Art and migration in Türkiye, Jordan and Ireland. Arthereistanbul is a community space, an art centre and place where artists can create in peace – listen to Omar Berakdar and artist and curator Sherin Zeraaty. In Jordan, Syrian illustrator and painter Haya Halaw is having her first solo exhibition show in Jacaranda Gallery in Amman. And finally in Cork, Ireland, meet artist Hina Khan, whose...
In Ireland we’re more familiar with thinking of ourselves as the victims of history – which we were – than as active participants in colonialism. But it’s an uncomfortable fact that the Irish were also slave owners, slave traders, overseers and agents. We helped build the slave empire on behalf of Britain, France and other countries, and shared in the profits of this horrendous system over the...
The only Irish person recognised as Righteous Among the Nations for saving Jewish children during the Holocaust. A fascinating character for many reasons, her work during the Spanish Civil War and then in Rivesaltes Refugee Camp in the South of France are noteworthy even in themselves. But it’s for risking her life, rescuing Jewish refugees who were being sent to concentration camps that she’ll...
‘Against The Wire’ from Moria refugee camp, meets Mustapha, an interpreter with Medical Volunteers International; Jameela, a mother trying to bring up her children in the camp; Adrianna, a medic with Boat Refugee Foundation; Ahmad, a photographer with ReFocus Media Labs, and Baqir, a teenager seeking a new life of safety. We follow Irish nurse Elena Lydon who took a career break from her nursing...
New Irish poets and editors from Nigeria, Zimbabwe, India and South Africa give us an in-depth look at diversity in Irish writing and publishing. Nidhi Zak/Aria Eipe, Christie Kandiwa, Chandrika Narayanan-Mohan, Khanyo Dlamini and Chiamaka Enyi-Amadi read their poetry of love, migration, family – and share their own unique experiences of ‘home’. They reflect on the power of language to shape...
Njamba Koffi is a talented poet, musician and writer originally from the Democratic Republic of Congo. When Njamba was 11, he and his family, like millions of others, had to flee the DRC. They stayed briefly in Tanzania, then in Dzaleka Refugee Camp in Malawi until finally settling in Eswatini, where Njamba helped set up a youth group in the camp. His book, ‘Refugee, The Journey Much Desired’ is...
Mohamad Khalf has been teaching photography in Zaatari refugee camp, Jordan, for many years – instilling a love of learning and creative expression in his students Ali and Mohammed Nour Al-Babisi. They talk to Bairbre Flood about the photography exhibition Mohmamad Khalf organised in the camp, called ‘Ana Surie’ (‘I Am Syrian’) and why they are Syrian first – not refugees. Nour Al-Hariri shares...