Lalloo Bhagwan, Irish Anti-Apartheid Movement:
My connection to Ireland
“I came to Ireland in 1964 to go to university. There was an association of South African students in Ireland so I joined that. Kader Asmal was a lecturer in Trinity and he had come up with the idea of bringing all the South African students together. Dublin was a big change for me. The situation in South Africa had been one of segregation and discrimination, so Dublin was so completely different.
Through Kader, I became involved with the Irish Anti-Apartheid Movement. When I was on the Executive Committee we met every two weeks to plan our activities. The whole purpose was to educate the Irish people about the situation in South Africa.
People didn’t understand the extent of the discrimination. They were shocked when we told them. They couldn’t believe what was going on. They were very supportive of us. You would have to have been heartless not to have been moved by injustice on that scale.
When Nelson Mandela came to Ireland, he met with the Irish Anti-Apartheid Movement. It was phenomenal to meet Mandela face-to-face. He was exceptional. It was the biggest honour of my life.”
