Carlow College, St Patrick’s played host to a cross cultural soccer game on Saturday May 4th. The ‘Belfast Carlow Rohingya Friendship Match’ was an opportunity for the visiting team from Belfast and the Rohingya Community in Carlow to come together in a spirit of solidarity and friendship. Before kick-off there was a minute’s silence to remember the victims of Human Rights Abuses and genocide in Myanmar and the devastating Easter Sunday bombings in Sri Lanka. At a reception following the game Stephanie McDermott, Lecturer and Secretary to Rohingya Action Ireland, praised the support of Carlow College, St Patrick’s in facilitating the game. ‘Without the support of our president Fr Conn O’Maoldhomhnaigh and the invaluable support of staff and students at Carlow College, St Patrick’s important events such as this would not happen, we are hugely indebted to the college for their support on so many levels’. She added ‘for our communities to flourish and live in peace we need to work together to increase and broaden our understanding of each other’s cultural identity. Solidarity events such as this allows us to focus on what we have in common rather than what divides us. It has been a great day where both communities have benefited greatly.’
