Blog – New Horizon Athlone

Refugee Week

World Refugee week in Athlone runs from 18 to 23rd June 2022. New Horizon Refugee and Asylum Seeker Support and Friends would like to invite…

Gerry Callaghan 2022-06-03

Launch of Tales My Granny Told Me

The launch of ‘Tales my Granny Told Me’ in Athlone library on World Refugee Day 20th June was a remarkable and wonderful event. This is…

Gerry Callaghan 2022-06-21

Street Circus!

Keep the date!

Gerry Callaghan 2022-06-13

Africa Day!

Athlone African Community group are pleased to invite you to celebrate Africa day next Saturday 28th May in Burgess Park between 11am and 8 pm.

Gerry Callaghan 2022-05-26

Into the Woods

Twenty of our young Ukrainian guests have been enjoying the Forest Experience Project. There they can Run and Jump and Scream and Splash and have…

Gerry Callaghan 2022-05-25

Sunday Circus Extravaganza!

Join us on Sunday 19th June for the great

Gerry Callaghan 2022-05-22

Cooking Classes

We have been running cookery classes in St Kieran’s community centre for the past few weeks. The results look great!

Gerry Callaghan 2022-05-22

Support for Regularisation Scheme

Check out New Horizon support for applicants to the International Protection regularisation scheme.

Gerry Callaghan 2022-02-25

FAQ’s

We are a front line refugee support group mainly working on the Lissywollen Direct Provision site in Athlone. Our focus is on providing information and help to the 300 (on average) residents living there.

We also work on the Temple Direct Provision site in Horseleap, Moate.

Everyone in the DP sites in Athlone and Temple is what is described as a ‘Convention’ refugee. People who have arrived in Ireland under a United Nations resettlement program are known as ‘Programme’ refugees.

Convention refugees are people who have made their own way to Ireland and have applied for recognition of refugee status when they arrive.

Various official and unofficial routes and methods are used to travel to Ireland. These change continually, depending on weather conditions and enforcement levels at crossings.

On arrival people are normally housed for a few weeks in Baleskin, near Dublin airport. They are then dispersed to various direct provision centres around the country.

People can get protection if they meet the conditions set out in The United Nations Convention on Protection of Refugees.

See Definition of a Refugee