Tag Archives: Mary Gallagher

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Further to the news that 80 Syrian refugees will be accommodated in the former Abbeyfield Hotel in Ballaghaderreen, Co Roscommon in March…

Eithne O’Brien, of RTÉ’s Prime Time, visited the town and spoke to several residents – including Mary Gallagher, who has run a clothes shop in Ballaghaderreen for more than 40 years.

While talking to Ms O’Brien, Ms Gallagher said:

“We must open our hearts and give them a chance and let them have shelter, we’d be a very poor lot of people if we didn’t do that.

..”We were brought up to think that if somebody was needy, I’m not talking about people who’ve just come to work, they’re all right, they’re okay, they’ve money coming in every week.

“But if somebody is needy and they’re driven out of their homes and you see a child picked up in Aleppo, out of the clay, how could you say no? How could you say no? You’d be betraying every single thing that we, ourselves, came from.”

Video: Colm Tobin

Watch back in full here