A young Croatian couple plan to get married in a one-bedroom flat in Galway tomorrow because they cannot afford a hotel or the insurance demanded by community centres and church halls.
Ms Davorka Milic (26) from Sisak, near Zagreb, and her fiancé, Gorge Vukalovich (26), who is from a small village near Vukovar, were both teenagers when their families were forced to leave Croatia in the early 1990s. Being of Greek Orthodox persuasion, they were targets of the "ethnic cleansing" policy adopted by former president Franjo Tudjman, which was applied to over a million people of the minority religious persuasion.
Ms Milic's family had mixed fortunes in the former Yugoslavia and she developed diabetes during that period. She came to Ireland some 19 months ago and was joined recently in Galway by her parents and sister. She is currently undertaking a computer course and hopes to find work.
However, neither she nor her fiancé are currently in full-time employment and cannot afford a hotel for their wedding. They tried unsuccessfully to find a community centre or church hall, with the help of the Galway Refugee Support Group. Most of the premises approached sought additional insurance to cover the event while several insisted that the event be both alcohol and nicotine free and that it be finished by 8 p.m. "Some even said that there should be no children there," Ms Milic said.
Their difficulties were compounded by the fact that there is no Greek Orthodox church in Galway. "I am not racist, but if we were African or Muslim, we might have found some space in one of the existing churches here," she said.
The Galway Refugee Support Group said several Protestant churches, including St Nicholas's and the Methodist church, have facilitated asylum-seekers for services and regular meetings. However, the Croatian couple's experience is not uncommon, in that organising social events like baptisms, christenings and weddings can be difficult for some minority religions.
Ms Tríona Nic Giolla Choille of the support group said some of the community premises contacted on the couple's behalf had asked for "wedding insurance". The group questioned the motivation for this stipulation, given that most premises should already have public liability insurance.
Ms Milic said the couple were not seeking charity, simply the right to avail of a community space. She and Mr Vukalovich decided to hold the ceremony in their one-room apartment in Upper Newcastle.
