The poetry of hope – Colm Keena on the Irish Uyghur Cultural Association

Recently I had the privilege of attending the launch of the Irish Uyghur Cultural Association, held in a restaurant close to the Ha'penny Bridge in Dublin. Although the Uyghur people of Central Asia are suffering a campaign of almost unimaginable cruelty at the hands of the Chinese government, there was an unmistakably festive air at the event, with many of the attendees wearing traditional costume and the tables groaning with plates of Uyghur food, including cakes, that people had prepared and brought along for the occasion. There are approximately 200 Uyghurs living in Ireland, many of them for more than…