Successful Newbridge meeting on Irish citizens of Basque origin

 

by Mick Healy

A very interesting talk on Ireland’s Basque refugees during the Spanish Civil War was given by political activist Stewart Reddin at Ubh café in Newbridge, Co. Kildare on Saturday, June 16 as part of June Fest.  The cafe was packed out for the talk, with part of the audience having to stand on the stairs.

Stewart told the extraordinary story of Ireland’s Basque refugees and one man in particular, Iker Gallastegi.  Iker survived two dictatorships, was taken to Mexico as a child refugee just months after being born.  He returned home at five years of age only to be forced to flee again as a ten-year-old following the fascist bombing of Gernika.

Living in Ireland as a refugee from 1937 to the 1950s, Iker attended school in the Meath Gaeltacht and became a Gaelic speaker. He studied in UCD and turned down an offer to play for Bohemians football club before returning home to fight in the Basque struggle against Franco’s fascist regime.

He returned again to Ireland to train with IRA members including Seamus Costello and Frank Keane in the early 1960s.  on February 12 this year, Iker passed away peacefully at his home in Algorta aged 91.

After the talk local folk singer Sive, who recently shared a stage with Christy Moore in Dublin, entertained the large crowd with a few songs like “Hoverfly” and “I Don’t Know”.