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New to the Parish

Sydney and Silke Moss, who relocated from Boston to Dublin. ‘Everyone was so friendly and outgoing and no one had any airs or graces about them,’ says Silke. Photograph: Dara Mac Dónaill

‘Whenever Heaney came to town to teach I’d cut his hair’

New to the Parish: Sydney and Silke Moss arrived from Boston in 2021

‘I believe my girls will live secure lives in Ireland and find themselves here’

‘I believe my girls will live secure lives in Ireland and find themselves here’

New to the Parish: Hamad Arshad arrived from Pakistan in 2002

‘When it’s bright outside I’m able to see. When it’s dark I always ask for help’

‘When it’s bright outside I’m able to see. When it’s dark I always ask for help’

New to the Parish: Kamil Tomko arrived from Slovakia in 2019

‘My home country is still Syria but my country is now Ireland’

‘My home country is still Syria but my country is now Ireland’

New to the Parish: Architect Muhammad Achour arrived from Syria in 2015

Racism is a problem in Ireland, but it’s ‘minimal’ in Carrick-on-Shannon

Racism is a problem in Ireland, but it’s ‘minimal’ in Carrick-on-Shannon

New to the Parish: Lola Gonzalez Farrell moved to Ireland from Panama in 2015

I never told my UCD classmates I lived in direct provision ... They wouldn’t understand

New to the Parish: Naima Chaudhry arrived from Pakistan, via the UK, in 2015

‘He talked about how beautiful it was in Ireland. The rivers were full of water’

New to the Parish: Anupriyadarshini Iniyan arrived from India in 2019

The Irish Times view on regularising undocumented migrants: a path out of the shadows

Nearly a third of undocumented work as carers and have made up a hidden line of essential workers during the pandemic

‘It felt like there was a resistance to foreigners coming into Irish dance’

New to the Parish: Anderson De Souza arrived from Brazil in 2012

‘Many Palestinians never experience the feeling of peace I have found in Ireland’

New to the Parish: Amanie Issa arrived from Bethlehem during the pandemic

‘Ireland has given me my true identity and transformed how I see the world’

New to the Parish: Charul Singh has been able to embrace cycling as she couldn’t in India

‘I’m proud to be in the Irish Defence Forces – I’d like that to be matched up with citizenship’

New to the Parish: Capt Catherine Barrett arrived from Scotland in 2015

‘I am 35 and I can’t marry. Who would accept me? I have nothing’

New to the Parish: Hayder Jaafar, originally from Iraq, arrived in Ireland in 2018

Two years ago, Élodie saw an ad for a French school in Galway. Now she runs it

New to the Parish: Élodie Ferry arrived from France last month. Her family follow in January

From taxi driver to barrister: A 14-year odyssey

New to the Parish: Jalil Rizvi arrived from Pakistan in 2007

‘My mum loves the milk here. She says chai tastes much better with Irish milk’

New to the Parish: Vel Dhanish, from India, and Jun Ying Sun, from China, came to Ireland in 2014

‘It’s bowled me over how Irish people look after each other. And they work bloody hard’

New to the Parish: Charlene Mathieson, who is from England, moved to Ireland in 2019

‘I’ve achieved my dream. I feel loved and valued in this orchestra’

New to the Parish: Silvija Scerbaviciute arrived from Lithuania, via the UK, in 2021

‘Winters are tough but I love living in Mayo now’

New to the Parish: Gabriela Meade Díaz arrived in Dublin from Mexico in 2016

‘People label Ireland as conservative, but it is very forward-thinking’

New to the Parish: Trevor and Kevin Baker-O’Haire arrived in 2015 from England

‘There were times I went a week and didn’t speak with another human being’

New to the Parish: Aminata Seilloh Conteh arrived from Sierra Leone in 2020

When people told me, ‘You’re too black,’ I never loved myself. I wished I could be like other kids

New to the Parish: Precious and Sedurida Rukundo arrived from Malawi in 2016

‘I kept thinking, What will my son’s future be like? The war was approaching’

New to the Parish: Sufyan ElGahmi arrived from Libya in 2019

Ireland trumps California: ‘We feel better here – and the schools are like a big hug for the kids’

New to the Parish: Igor and Anna Meleshchenko arrived from Russia in 2020

‘I found Irish people very accepting. I also admired them for not caring what others think’

New to the Parish: Kasia O’Reilly arrived from Poland in 2005

‘I was at a crossroads: I could kill people or be killed myself – or I could flee to Ireland’

New to the Parish: Abd nour Karouz arrived from Syria, via Lebanon, in 2018

The country that I love doesn’t seem to want me here

Ireland sucked me in, in that sad subtle way like a few too many pints, and I wanted to make a life here

‘Being in Ireland is the best and worst thing – the best as I’m safe but the worst as I feel so isolated’

New to the Parish: Burma/Myanmar-born Supyae Yadanar arrived here in 2018

People say, ‘Barcelona is wonderful. Why would you buy a house in Ballincollig?’

New to the Parish: Dr Paola Chavez arrived from Peru, via Spain, in 2020

‘In Dublin I feel like I’m a part of a living history’

New to the Parish: Ketlyn Mara Rosa arrived from Brazil in 2020

My family said, ‘At least he’s not English. He’s Irish, so we can understand each other in a colonial way’

New to the Parish: Dipti Pandya and her daughter Leela O’Reilly have been charting their heritage

After 20 years here I feel Irish. I don’t get Lithuanian jokes any more

New to the Parish: Giedre Visockaite arrived from Lithuania in 2002, when she was 15

I expected everyone in Ireland to be drunk and Dublin to be dangerous, but I’m a big fan now

New to the Parish: Stewart Moll first arrived from the US in 2001, left and returned in 2017

‘I think Ireland will be a turning point in our lives for something better’

New to the Parish: Wafa Rougab and Islam Ben Adel arrived from Algeria at the start of the year

‘Unfortunately, Ireland’s pro-vaccination campaign is not strong enough’

People are getting information from anti-vax groups, says Dr Arman Rahman

‘I have Polish roots and an Irish heart’

New to the Parish: Musician and dancer Dora Gola arrived from Poland in 2008

A Syrian in Dublin: ‘The weather is cold but the people are warm’

New to the Parish: Nasouh Hossari arrived from Syria in 2015

‘I hadn’t done my homework on Ireland. I didn’t know what I’d let myself in for’

New to the Parish: Corry de Jongh arrived from the Netherlands in 1976

‘I had this thing for Ireland, I felt drawn to this place’

New to the Parish: Katrin Sturm arrived from Germany in 2011

‘Girls in Norway are more direct. I’m sure I insulted many Irish people’

New to the Parish: Torunn Stokke Griffin arrived to Dublin from Norway in 2006

‘I used to say it was discrimination, but now I realise it’s straightforward racism’

New to the Parish: Dr Mohsin Kamal arrived from Pakistan in 2015

‘When you are a person of colour in Ireland people don’t see you as gay’

New to the Parish: Pradeep Mahadeshwar arrived from India via the UK in 2012

‘I’ve realised the people in Tullamore are calm and kind’

New to the Parish: Phathisani Nkomo, a teacher, arrived in Ireland from Zimbabwe in 2019

‘I’m at the bottom of the barrel because I didn't go to a school in Ireland’

New to the Parish: Nithya Rajendran arrived from India in 2017 and has been working as a frontline A&E doctor during Covid-19

‘From the suffering in Aleppo to a peaceful place here in Ireland’

New to the Parish: Ahmad Muselmani arrived from Syria, via Greece, in 2016

‘I wear the double green shirts – Ireland and Pakistan’

New to the Parish: Kamal Merchant arrived from Pakistan in 1983 to play Irish cricket

‘As far as any place would feel like home, that would be Cork’

New to the Parish: Jared Peters arrived from the United States, via Canada, in 2012

New to the Parish: Abdullah Afghan and Fatima Abdullah arrived from Afghanistan via Pakistan

‘People think I either have to be Irish or Filipino, but I can be both’

New to the Parish: Shane Andaloc arrived from the Philippines in 2004

‘It hurts when my mum is reduced to the colour of her skin in Ireland’

New to the Parish: Sara Abraham arrived from India in 2006

Moving to Donegal from Manchester, ‘we burned through our savings in short order’

New to the Parish: Ken Harper and Jason Gerber arrived from northern England in 2014

‘Black kids were on one side of the yard, white kids were on the other’

FAI referee Isreal Ibeanu, who moved to Ireland as a child, on friendship, racism and solidarity

‘My Irish friends helped me through my hardships’

Tammy Nguyen arrived from Vietnam in 2007

‘I need to work twice as hard to get a job in Ireland’

New to the Parish: Journalist Joseph Okoh arrived from Nigeria in 2019

‘To get to know Irish culture and people, carer is the best job’

New to the Parish: Fernanda Otero arrived from Brazil in 2016 with her son, Gaudie

‘Ireland and Greece are like sister countries’

Ioannis Zabetakis arrived from Greece in 2015: ‘I don’t have any plans to move again’

‘People in Ireland are kind and respect us. I don’t feel like I’m a refugee’

New to the Parish: Ramadan Alhusain arrived from Syria in 2018

One Iranian musician was made an Irish citizen, so why wasn’t his brother?

New to the Parish: Shahab Coohe arrived from Iran in 2012

‘Morocco is in my heart but Ireland is always in my mind’

New to the Parish: Mohammed Mrabat arrived from Morocco in 2003

‘As soon as I moved here I became obsessed with Irish names’

New to the Parish: Jan Hailey Reyes Coy arrived from the Philippines in 2002

‘I would like to see more people who look like me in senior positions in Ireland’

New to the Parish: Jocelino Jorge arrived from Australia in 2018

‘People in Dublin can be friendly but Cavan was so much better’

New to the Parish: Rebeca Sanchez Gallego arrived from Spain in 2015

‘I’ve been in Ireland during a real cultural shift’

New to the Parish: Tari Takavarasha arrived from London in 2017

‘I’ve learned to be more positive – I think because of the Irish attitude’

New to the Parish: Roxana Zaha arrived from Romania in 2016

‘Ireland is a really good country for Muslims’

New to the Parish: Arjumand Younus and Atif Qureshi arrived from Pakistan in 2011

‘I actually didn’t know Ireland existed. But I read about it and knew it was perfect for me’

New to the Parish: Sukrity Sharma arrived from Nepal in 2019

‘I’m trying to find where I fit here in Ireland’

New to the Parish: Joe Donovan arrived from the US in 2018 after his parents’ deaths

‘At what point is it okay for a black person to be Irish?’

New to the Parish: Linda Keitasha arrived from Uganda in 2002

‘The girls in my law course weren’t friendly. They ignored me, the only Chinese woman’

New to the Parish: Last month, Fei Liang became Ireland’s first Chinese-born barrister

‘We’ve a world that works at odd times – then I came to Ireland and everything closed at 6pm’

New to the Parish: Edi Oliveira arrived from Brazil in 2010

The trained GP who can’t work in Ireland, despite the shortage

New to the Parish: Apoorva Gopinath arrived from Bangalore in India in 2019

‘At Dublin Airport they made me wait four hours. I was ready to cry’

New to the Parish: Laura Gordy Pugliessi arrived from Bolivia in 2020

‘Moving to Ireland was the best decision I ever made’

Noli Alngohuro arrived from the Philippines in 2000

‘The HSE wasn’t ready to accept immigrant doctors as a regular part of the system’

Naveed Abbas arrived from Pakistan in 2011

‘Everybody I knew who had lived in Ireland always told me it was a great experience’

New to the Parish: Carolina Chimirri arrived from Brazil in 2019

‘Poland and Italy are wonderful, but our lives are in Cork now’

New to the Parish: Alex Thiel Didu, a jeweller, arrived from Poland in 2008

‘Once you are not lily-white or freckle-skinned, you are labelled as non-Irish’

Dr Mary Toomey, an Irish citizen for 45 years, arrived from Sri Lanka in 1967

‘I wandered around Dublin wondering: Is this what they call a capital city?’

New to the Parish: Shubhangi Karmakar arrived from India via the UK in 2015

‘I come from an explicit, brash, rude culture. Ireland is a lot more implicit’

New to the Parish: Melanie Labor arrived from Germany in 2006

‘Racism is real in Ireland. Our history does not make us immune’

6:46 New to the Parish: Law lecturer Thamil Ananthavinayagan arrived from Germany in 2013

‘Moving to Galway was the best decision of my life’

New to the Parish: Jed Gjerek and his family arrived from Croatia in 2017

‘I feel more freedom in Ireland. I feel you can do what you want’

New to the Parish: Anna Surkova, who lives in Co Cork, arrived from Ukraine in 2018

‘Kildare was a shocker. The feeling was instant’

New to the Parish: Tobi Omoteso arrived from Nigeria via the UK in 1999

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