On a bad day people bearing those names might find themselves subject to violent attack, even having their homes torched by some thug in Ku Klux Klan drag on their way back from sating their hatred beating up drag queens - a case of dregs assaulting drags - for entertaining families.
Earlier this month while out trying to purchase a scooter in Galway, both Algerian nationals noticed smoke coming from a property a few metres away from the home of the scooter seller. On rushing to the scene they were confronted by smoke and screaming teenagers trapped in a third floor bathroom.
Neighbours were running out, and the fire alarm is on and we tried to get in from the front door, but there was plenty of smoke. You could see nothing, and we breathed in some smoke.
Unable to get into the house because of the suffocating smoke, they shouted to see if there was anyone inside before rushing to help the girls. One of the men tried to climb up to the bathroom but the drainpipe would not support his weight. While trying to keep the girls calm they once again tried to enter the house from the rear only to be repelled by the smoke billowing from the structure.
At this point a quick thinking Polish national had arrived and he started to push a trampoline towards the house. They assisted him, desperately clearing any obstacles preventing them getting the trampoline tight to the wall. Then all three men encouraged the girls. by this stage gasping for air, to leap for life. The older of the siblings jumped first but damaged her legs in the process, explaining that she had lost sensation. The men then had to keep her in position until the emergency services arrived and could move her in a medically safe manner, while at the same time encouraging the the younger sister to jump from the blazing building which she did. She too was injured but not as bad as her older sister. Both survived the ordeal.
Seyyid Ahmed Nahi explained:
There was no time for thinking, I see them the same way I see my three children. Like that Polish guy, he didn’t think, he just went and we ran, I think it’s about having humanity, if you see someone, try to help, it’s not nice to take the phone out. For me, we are human beings, if somebody can help save someone, that is the most important thing and in that moment, you don’t think because if you think too much, maybe you will back away, just try to help as much as you can and that is it.
This is what many immigrants bring to this country - a quality and integrity that prompts them to take risks to help save the lives of Irish children. When the thought get them out entered the heads of the three men it was to get the children of a different nationality out of the flames in contrast to the racist hate goondas for whom get them out means getting people of a different nationality out of Ireland. The three foreign nationals involved in the Galway rescue mission had one objective to save people from flames and not, like the racists, engulf them in flames.
Having foreign guys like these three living next door is much more preferable than having an Irish racist as a neighbour.
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