Meal Ticket: Our Cafe at the Project Arts Centre, Dublin

Our Table, a pop-up cafe upstairs in Project Arts Centre in Temple Bar in Dublin, had their official launch the evening after the US elections. The upstairs space was full of well-wishers, some of whom had helped fund the project through a 28-day FundIt campaign which raised €11,465.

At the launch, Colm O’Gorman of Amnesty International, Nick Henderson of the Irish Refugee Council and activist Neltah Chadamoya all spoke about the importance of projects that bring communities together, particularly in light of the divisive effects of the shock outcome in the US.

The aim of Our Table is to highlight the conditions of asylum seekers and refugees living under Direct Provision in Ireland, and it’s a project that began with a meeting between cafe owner Michelle Darmody (The Cake Cafe, Slice) and and Ellie Kisyombe, an activist originally from Malawi living in Direct Provision in Ireland..

Darmody was shocked when she found out that people living under Direct Provision are not allowed to work, are living on a weekly allowance of €19.10 per adult, and that people living in Direct Provision are not allowed to cook for themselves or their family.

She reached out to the Irish Refugee Council to see if she could help raise awareness on it. They introduced her to Kisyombe, who at that time was volunteering with the Irish Refugee Council and responsible for highlighting issues around direct provision. They ran a number of pop-up events in 2015, and in October 2016, opened the pop-up cafe in The Project Arts Centre, with the help of volunteers and their FundIt supporters.

“The message has to get to the government first,” says Kisyombe.”It’s not easy to get the politicians to make changes, but we will keep pushing and and showing the government that change is possible with spaces like Our Table. By directing asylum seekers and refugees to get training and employment, it will allow them to change their lives and contribute to society.”

Apart from starting the conversation, the aim of the cafe is to provide training and employment opportunities for ex-Direct Provision. The cafe is staffed by paid interns and the cafe’s manager, Lucky Khambule, is also a spokesman for the Movement of Asylum Seekers in Ireland. Colin Harmon of 3FE lent his supported by helping to train the paid interns in coffee-making, and there are plans for further training that the team can apply to their work at Our Table and beyond.

On offer at Our Table are herbal teas and homemade cordials. The coffee is from 3FE, and their daily soup is supplied by Soup Dragon on Dublin’s Capel St. For €6.50, you can grab a bowl of soup and a Syrian pastry. These are soft, savoury pastries with an egg and herb filling, and they’re made for Our Table by a Syrian refugee. In fact, most of the sweet and savoury treats on the cafe’s bar are made by asylum seekers and refugees, such as Ellie’s Delight Bread, a sweet oat-filled banana bread made with coconut, semolina and rose water.

The upstairs space at Project Arts Centre is filled with natural light and a couple of long, communal tables make it an ideal meeting space. On my visit, I bump into festival director Oonagh Murphy, who’s meeting a friend in the cafe. She has become a regular at Our Table. “You can enjoy excellent coffee while supporting asylum seekers,” she says.

Our Table is open 10am-4pm Monday to Friday, until the end of 2016. The team is on the look out for a permanent home and hopes that Our Table can continue to highlight the issues around Direct Provision while providing employment and training to their paid interns. You can support them by dropping in or visiting ourtable.ie to find out more.