Learning goes both ways at Cork's Welcome English Language Centre
Ann Bracken, volunteer tutor with students Karen, from Brazil; Nino from Georgia and Lima, from Afghanistan at the welcome mural at Welcome English Lanuage Centre. Picture: Larry Cummins
At Cork’s Welcome English Language Centre, manager Angela Murphy knows every student’s name — all 150 of them, comprising 35 nationalities. The biggest grouping is from Afghanistan followed by Ukraine, while African and South American countries are also well represented.
Murphy, who has worked here since 2005, recalls hearing that “for many asylum-seekers, over many months, all they are is ‘you’ — they’re not called by their name”.
The observation stuck: “I make sure I learn everybody’s name. To call them by name is to respect them... you’ve taken the time to learn and remember it.”
The Centre was set up in 2000 by three Mercy sisters, among them Sr Celestine Forrest, responding to a need among asylum-seekers in direct provision for English language skills. But for those newly-arrived in Ireland, social integration supports are also provided by the Centre, which has just won a 2025 Aontas Star Award — the awards recognise the impact of adult learning across Ireland.
“When people walk in the door, they’re looking for a place where they feel welcome and part of the community, where they’re recognised for themselves. We try to have a holistic learning environment. We have our global kitchen and we’ve two tea-breaks daily and everybody’s encouraged to come — you see all the little groups chatting.”
Who comes to the Centre often reflects world politics. “It very much depends on what’s happening in the world,” says Murphy, recalling four Afghan families arriving after the US withdrawal from Afghanistan. “The men were soldiers who’d worked there with the American army. With the Taliban, we also see Afghan men bringing their mothers and sisters.”
She recalls a Ukrainian, here long before the war started in 2022, phoning her a week before the exodus began following the Russian invasion. “Her aunt and cousin were coming. Could we help them? And absolutely, we could.” One week later the Centre was facilitating 240 Ukrainian refugees.
Murphy, who’s “always in awe of the volunteer tutors” — the Centre has 35 — didn’t have to ask. “It was ‘Angela, where do you want us?’ We put on an extra 12 classes in the evenings, as well as facilitating those who could come by day. I went back teaching. The place became a social hub for the Ukrainian people — some are still with us.”
Olena Zahorulko came to the Centre in April 2022. “I arrived in Ireland with my daughter — she was six then — and with my husband, who has diabetes, it’s why he was allowed to leave Ukraine and come to Ireland.
“I came with beginner’s English… I was very stressed… June 1 was my birthday and I cried for all we’d gone through. My tutor, Kelly, was so kind, she gave me a t-shirt with ‘Radiohead’ on it. My heart melted.
“Welcome English is like my second family,” says Olena, who has made great friends, including from China and Georgia.
Sayed Asadi, 25, had hardly any English when he arrived in 2023 from Afghanistan: “They know how to teach people here who know nothing about English.”
Now working for a fast food outlet in Cork city, he sometimes works in customer service. “I have lots of communication with people. Welcome English was very good for me.”
Students are aged between 19 and 76 — the oldest an Afghan who “hasn’t missed a day and always comes with a smile”.
Which nationality grouping is most represented can depend on whether family reunification is currently high for that region. “We’ve five members of one Afghan family — three generations.
“An Eritrean gentleman who got asylum three years ago — while he was waiting to know if his wife and children would be granted reunification with him, he’d come in everyday, saying “Teacher Angela, 10 more days and I will know’.
"We were on the countdown with him. You’re included in everything in their lives. And then he got a ‘yes’ — and the beam on his face every day since!” says Murphy, who’s been to Afghan weddings and Syrian and Iraqi christenings.
Working at the Centre for 21 years, Ann Bracken has been a tutor for the past seven. With a background in chartered accounting, she finds working with immigrants opens her eyes in new ways.
“A student has just had a baby, and today in class we were talking about pregnancy scans, and another student said she didn’t have any baby scans because a lot of her stuff was destroyed in Mariupol. She didn’t make anything big of it, but it’d make you sit up and think. You get a little insight into what people have been through.”
It’s humbling work, says Murphy. “It teaches you never to take anything for granted, makes you very aware that life can change in a second.”
Daily, she sees the humanity and compassion of people who’ve endured so much. She was particularly touched by seven young men from Kurdistan who arrived into Ireland in the back of a trailer. When later their tutor at the Centre was very ill and in the hospice they made her a special soup. “And five of them went to Marymount to give it to her.
“Every day I meet the most wonderful people. They go about their business very quietly. They’re so delighted to be here, to be safe — and they are forever grateful.”
Welcome English Language Centre receives no State funding. Anybody interested in donating materials, expertise beyond teaching, or funds can visit welcomeenglish.ie/apply-to-volunteer/
