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A story worth telling

Made on a shoestring budget, Shalom Ireland, a film which traces the history of the Jews in Ireland, is one of those rare documentaries which jolts the consciousness of viewers into a realization of the role played by one prominent Irishman, Robert Briscoe, in the struggle to achieve freedom for his country after seven hundred years of foreign occupation.

The Jewish presence in Ireland, documented with an early arrival in the 1200s, has not always been a happy one. As in many other countries, resentment and periodic persecution marred their relationship with the native people. It wasn't always easy to be a Jew in Ireland, but as pointed out in the documentary, both races shared common experiences. The Irish knew persecution for centuries, and in later years both races suffered the onslaught of genocide, the Irish by famine, the Jews by Holocaust.

Irish Jews came to understand the national will for independence, and in the fight for an independent Irish state one of their number used his European contacts to secure arms for the Irish "insurgents" led by their charismatic leader, Michael Collins.

Bob Briscoe was that man, and his story is featured in the film. It is told by, amongst others, his son, Joe Briscoe, who has the honour of being the longest serving officer in the Irish Army and is a leader of the Jewish community; and by another well respected and much loved leader of the community, Joe Morrison from Limerick, who died shortly after the film was made. The titles of the film are played over the glorious but poignant background of Joe Morrison singing in Gaelic, An Cruiscín Lán, in his wonderful Limerick baritone.

Dublin's Jews arrived mainly from Lithuania between the years 1880 and 1920. Jewish immigrants before that were mainly German and English.

In recent years, following the founding of the State of Israel, there has been a marked decline in the number of Jews living in Ireland. Scenes in the film include the closure of the foremost Synagogue in Dublin on Adelaide Road, and the removal of the sacred books from the Ark. From a high of seven Synagogues the community is left with just an Orthodox one and one for the tiny Progressive community.

The documentary was made on a tiny budget made by US filmmaker Valerie Lapin-Ganley, and has been a big hit at film festivals, with over 70 screenings in cities including Sydney, Jerusalem, Warsaw and New York.

Robert Briscoe, it will be recalled, became the first Jewish Lord Mayor of Dublin. Years later his son, Ben, also became Dublin's First Citizen, in which capacity he helped generate new business and tourism from abroad.

Ben is emphatic that the Jewish community is not facing extinction in Ireland. "I personally think there will be a renaissance in Ireland. I don't think the community will disappear, not for one minute," he asserts.

As an e-zine linking Ireland and Canada, it is worth noting that Ben has a sister, Joan, who emigrated to Canada, and has been for many years a highly respected physician in Calgary.

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