I come from a very small town on an island in Croatia. There weren’t ever any opportunities there. I have a twin brother [Jay]. We come from a single-parent home – there were always a lot of issues – but I think we’ve always been inspired by the idea that you can go somewhere and make something out of yourself.
I managed an apartment for a summer and was able to save a little bit of money, but there was only enough for one of us [twins] to go abroad and try to find work. That was going to be me.
I came to Ireland in October of 2015 with a suitcase and a tent. That was it. I didn’t have money to stay in a hotel or anything. I was walking from place to place, handing out my CVs. Mind you, there was nothing to put on [my CV], but that’s what I was doing for the longest time.
For four weeks, I was sleeping in Stephen’s Green, and didn’t meet anyone, but the biggest thing was when I came across a soup run. A huge burden came off my shoulders, because now I knew at least I wasn’t going to starve. Before that, I was surviving on a little over €1 a day. I would buy cans of beans, peas, spaghetti hoops. Eventually, I was going to run out of money, but I didn’t have a plan. When I came across the soup run, and later discovered there were all these homeless services, I knew things were going to work out.
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Later on, I got a day’s work with a fruit-picking company – Keelings – and I got paid €50. I used that money to get my brother over. Six months in, I started working as a kitchen porter in west Dublin. I was sleeping all over the city – sleeping outside – while working.
A little bit down the road, we met Aubrey McCarthy, who’s a senator now. He was very welcoming, but when you live on the street and come from the life that we had come from, you can’t trust anyone, so [at first] we were suspicious that he wanted to help people. But through him we got into accommodation with the charity Tiglin. The concept is called transitional housing – you stay in an accommodation for a year initially, and if you’re pursuing work and education and so forth you get to stay there longer.
From living on the streets to being in college was only seven days apart for me. I ended up living on the streets for essentially 365 days, and then there was a new chapter. Since then, I’ve graduated with two master’s degrees [in child, youth and family studies, and in international relations].
[Recently] my brother and I got awarded the Lord Mayor’s award for our work with the homeless cafe in Dublin [The Lighthouse], where I’ve been working full time for three years as the manager. I started loads of new initiatives. We have live music. We’re having an African day. We have a clothing market. When you bring in all these events, you attract people who live on the street, and you can work with them and ultimately get them off the street.
Since the moment I came to Ireland there was this arrow of opportunity. It felt like: whatever you want is within arm’s reach. My goal was to find work, so that was the lens through which I was looking at this. But that’s what I felt from day one.
The second thing is that it was very friendly. Coming from Croatia, the culture would be more eastern European. Irish culture is unique. Let’s say you’re walking down a busy street, and you bump into a person, and it’s your fault. They will say “I’m sorry”. In other countries that doesn’t happen. The people [in Ireland], they have this energy. It’s a tribe. It’s very collective. There’s something infectious about the people.
There is nothing negative you can put on Ireland [in relation to] me being homeless. I was coming here with a mission, and being homeless was the byproduct of that. It was tough, but Ireland only gave me the best things. If you come to Ireland and you live on the street, you have everything you need besides your house. So how can you say anything bad about it?
If you’re talking about an empire, there’s three stages. The first generation builds. They build all these amazing structures; they build a Colosseum. The second generation sees that work, but they enjoy the fruits of the labour. The third generation sees all these structures but doesn’t see the work that went into it. In Ireland, there’s still people who remember the hard times. I still meet people who were hungry when they were children. But there’s [also] a generation who just remember the good times. The good times can become a curse.
The world is a harsh place, and I’ve always seen Ireland as an oasis. You don’t have to travel far to lose everything that we enjoy. As an immigrant, I feel a responsibility to contribute and preserve what’s here. I see myself as one of the people here now – one of the tribe – and that’s a great thing.
In conversation with Niamh Donnelly. This interview, part of a series, was edited for clarity and length. For more information on Tiglin at the Lighthouse Homeless Cafe, visit tiglin.ie. Allen is sharing his story as part of We Act, a campaign to celebrate Ireland’s charities and community groups, and showcase the impact they have, across Ireland. Visit WeAct.ie
