Eglinton Residents Nominated for Galway City 'Mayoral Award'!

Huda, Adil, and their children Lina and Mohammed with DERI Chief Executive Officer, Michael Turley, at the DERI Awards ceremony in Galway University, July 2006

Adil Jaber and Huda Jafer have been jointly nominated for the annual Galway City Mayoral Awards. These prestigious honours are awarded to those people whose voluntary activities are deemed as making a valuable contribution to improving the quality of lives of their communities.
According to Brendan Smith, the present holder of the Mayoral Award in the Social and Community category, "It was recognised that many residents of the Eglinton Hotel in 2006 devoted considerable time and valuable expertise in providing a series of in-house courses and resources. People such as Joy, Dmitriy, Joy Obeto, Natalia, Zoran and Ljiljana spring to mind. But it was felt that Adil and Huda have consistently stood out like beams of light for their unselfish and constant actions on behalf of the city's asylum seeker community. They edited the Online Eglinton Community Newsletters, organised art & computer classes for different age groups and formed the backbone of the many family events such as Halloween and Christmas parties held during the course of the year. Their unflinching devotion and never-ending volunteerism on behalf of the Eglinton residents was and is a fine example for all Galwegians to follow. Their efforts and demeanour has put a smile on the faces of so many of us during the last year."

Adil, Huda and their two children- Lina and Mohammed- were recently granted Irish residency status and have moved out of the Eglinton Hotel. They will be sadly missed. But we wished them well as they make a new begining in Dublin with Adil and Huda both expecting to continue their professional lives as dentists once they complete their university studies.

Nominations also for our friendly Nurses!
The Public Health Nurses and the Health Promotions staff of the Health Board Executive were also nominated for the Mayoral Awards. For it was recognised that individuals such as Maeve Geraghty, Helena Heagney, Adrienne Lynam and Breege Nichol have regularly and without complaint gone over and above the call of duty to help make life easier in Ireland for asylum seekers.