Church serves up a free Christmas Day meal for newcomers to Northern Ireland
Newcomers to Northern Ireland were served up a Christmas Day lunch by a church in south Belfast.
The free meal was put on on December 25 in the church hall of St Patrick’s Church of Ireland, Drumbeg.
The organiser, Nigel Quinn, said: “There were folks from Syria, Sudan, Eritrea, and Iran as well as Pakistan, Hong Kong and Ukraine. Most of the guests came to Northern Ireland fleeing conflict in their places of birth.
"Our initiative was intended to demonstrate that the majority of folks in Northern Ireland welcome newcomers, and especially no Christmas Day wanted to show them that as a faith community at Drumbeg Church we believe everyone has a place at the table.”
Among other places to serve free meals on Christmas Day, an Indian restaurant in Belfast, Bengal Brasserie on the city’s Ormeau Road, throws open its doors every December 25.
Its generous owner and staff cooking up a free feast for people unable to celebrate the day with family or friends.
The owner Naz Rahman: “I wanted to give something back to the community, as Ormeau Road has given me so much.”
He knows only too well what being alone is like. Naz’s parents died when he was very young; adopted, he arrived in Belfast from Bangladesh at the age of 13, unable to speak a word of English.
"This was the early 1990s, before schools might sort out translators,” he says. “It was very isolating. But the Ormeau Road took me in and really helped me out. The entire community was incredibly welcoming and I’ve been here ever since.”