Irish immigrant priest, 90, joins LA protests in solidarity

RTÉ News​

a day ago

A 90-year-old priest in Los Angeles, who is originally from Co Longford, has described the protests in the city over anti-immigration raids as very personal, as an Irish immigrant himself.
Speaking on RTÉ's News At One programme Fr Peter O'Reilly, who is originally from Abbeylara, said he attended one of the protests yesterday.
He had received word that his diocese would be forming a group of interfaith ministers near one of the protests, and they would have a prayer vigil on the steps of City Hall.
However, this meeting was subsequently cancelled because of fear of violence, so he said he felt the thing to do was to mingle with the people at the protest.
He said that, in wearing his priest's collar, he thought the best thing to do would be to bear witness and say: "We stand with you".
Fr O'Reilly said the mood was very serious, but animated.
He outlined that street barriers had been set up in order to protect large groups of people from rubber bullets which the police had been firing.
The police, he said, were firing them just as a warning for people not to riot.
Fr O'Reilly said what is happening in Los Angeles is very personal for him as an immigrant himself.
"With the Irish experience of being discriminated against for so many years and knowing the discrimination here in this country against the Irish, I felt there was something personal about that," he said.
He continued: "Out of my own personal experience, where I was in some of these communities and knowing how many of them were marginalised because of the colour of their skin.
"They're hard working, family-oriented people that we needed to stand with and to let them know we were with them and for them".