It's time we gave back to New York - Hyland

“Do we only want to know the diaspora when we want to know them or should we be giving them something back?

Leitrim senior football manager Terry Hyland has expressed his disappointment at the poor response so far from county boards across Ireland towards an appeal to raise funds for Irish people in New York, many of them undocumented, who have been left without any income due to the ongoing pandemic.

Sláinte 2020 is a collaboration of a number of concerned groups in New York, who have come together to raise funds for Irish people who are struggling financially at this time. To date, the group have raised in the region of $400,000 and they are currently assisting approximately four to five hundred people per week.

Former Cavan manager Hyland became aware of the initiative through his involvement with the Leitrim footballers and threw his weight behind it. However, he says he is saddened that the relevant parties in this country, many of whom have fundraised in New York, have not backed the plan so far.

“Leitrim senior footballers and the 1994 team were doing a fundraiser and decided to raise funds for Pieta House and another local charity. We knew Sláinte 2020 was coming up and Caitriona Clarke in New York is chairperson of it and they are also the sponsors the Leitrim senior team,” explained Hyland.

“It was through that connection I became aware  of it. A lot of Irish people at home have an affinity with Irish people in America and I felt that rather than it being a one-way thing as it has in recent years, with a lot of Irish people taking money out of New York, it was time that the Irish people put something back into it.

“They have a great saying out tyere, there’s no strength without unity. At the end of the day we are all Irish people and we should be united no matter where we are in the world.

“The hospitality of the people over there is amazing, they love to see people going over and they treat them very, very well. It’s probably unprecedented what has happened in the world, certainly in the last 100 years, and to see New York on its knees with it.

“There are so many Irish people on their knees with the rest of New York and suffering at the moment. In Ireland, we have been quite lucky in that we have had the COVID payments and subsidies to keep people at work and the government has done a lot of good work in that sense, nobody has been left on the footpath should we say.

“But unfortunately for the Irish in New York, and the other American cities, if they haven’t got a green card and they’re not there officially, they have been left out to dry.

“I do believe in New York they are looking after in the region of 4-500 people per week. They are depending on that support for food, they are depending on it for rent and for the upkeep of their families until they get back to work.

“A lot of Irish people over there as we know traditionally work in bars and the food trade and construction and they were the first places to be closed down. They are doing tremendous work out there headed up by Caitriona and there are many others involved including New York GAA, the Irish Centre, United Irish Counties and the Aisling Centre. It’s not just one particular group, it’s a gathering of all the groups out there to look after our own.”

Leitrim county board have contacted county boards around Ireland as well as the GPA seeking donations but the uptake has been slow, with only a handful of counties – one of which is Cavan – so far having stumped up.

“Leitrim is unique, the smallest county population-wise but with high emigration and a lot of emigrants who went to New York so they have a big connection for a small county. Leitrim county board have put their hand out and asked all county boards in Ireland and the GPA and those associated with the people in America to possibly give a donation of €2000 if they could afford it or whatever they could afford.

“I know county boards are not meeting and everyone is doing everything remotely but the response has been slow I felt when you consider all the big counties who have gone out there and raised large amounts of money and the GPA in particular who have taken millions out of New York and other American cities.

“Do we only want to know the diaspora when we want to know them or should we be giving them something back?

“I know you send it to a county board chairman and he has to talk to a secretary and treasurer and you have layers to go through but it’s not a massive amount of money, it probably wouldn’t cover one training session for the big counties for one day never mind one week.

“These people out there support all these counties and this is an opportunity to give something back and I would encourage them to do so and show how important these people are to us.”

For more information or to make a donation, log on to www.slainte2020.org.