Fifteen asylum-seekers, from Nigeria, the Congo, Georgia, Russia and several east European countries, will make history by participating in this year's St Patrick's Day parade in Galway.
The 15, who are currently being accommodated in a Salthill hotel while waiting to have their applications processed, are among eight groups taking part in the parade as part of a Galway Corporation-funded Community Arts Initiative.
For the last four weeks they have joined with local Galwegians in making costumes and props for the event and are currently rehearsing their sections of the parade under the supervision of the co-founder of Macnas Community Theatre Company, Pete Sammon, who is director of the initiative.
The group was invited to participate in the parade by the assistant director of the Community Arts Initiative, Ms Maureen Stevens.
"I'm very aware of the racism that's building up in Ireland," she said. "There's a lot of misinformation going on and it's important to tackle that. This might help them to integrate and might also make Irish people realise that they can be an active part of the community."
Two Nigerians, Sunday and Martins, are among those taking part, supported by the Galway One World Centre, although at present they are more preoccupied with being allowed to remain in Ireland than with celebrating the national day. Both had interviews with Department of Justice representatives in Dublin last week. The two men, one a university graduate who studied geography, the other a graduate in electronics from a technical college, are not allowed to work at present, and receive £15.50 a week social welfare.
Sunday had to leave Nigeria because he was involved in student politics. He escaped with a friend's help, he says, but had no idea where his final destination would be.
His countryman, Martins, knew he was coming to Ireland, but had no knowledge about this State. He left after being evicted from the house where he'd lived all his life and threatened with death.
Both are single, so they are well down the list of people to be housed by the local authority. They "eat, sleep and watch television", and wait to see what the future holds.
They were really happy to be asked to participate in the St Patrick's Day parade. Sunday will be drumming while Martins will be dancing and performing and they are looking forward to being part of the bigger Galway community on this day.
And they are aware that they are making history as "there's never been a cultural group like this before and it's a big change".
Although not even their rehearsals schedule can alleviate the boredom which they are suffering, they remain optimistic that they will be allowed to stay in Ireland and to contribute, in their way, to this State's future.