'Our health service would fall asunder if we didn't have migrants': Sr Stan calls for gratitude

James Cox

From past taoisigh to celebrities, migrants, and homeless people, Sr Stanislaus Kennedy hopes her new book will show that gratitude can be found whatever your circumstances are.

Sr Stanislaus Kennedy, known as Sr Stan, has helped thousands of people with her charity work in a career spanning over 30 years.

She founded homelessness charity Focus Ireland in 1985, and the Immigrant Council of Ireland in 2001.

Ahead of the launch of her new book In Gratitude: Unlocking the Fullness of Life, on Sunday, Sr Stan told BreakingNews.ie: "Gratitude means an awful lot to me, and it has done for years. Gratitude to my parents, my family, my friends and particularly, working in social justice and social services; the hundreds of thousands of people who have come to help me and made what I do possible.

"I also know from my own experience that gratitude makes me happy. We tend to think that we'll be grateful when we're happy, but the opposite is true."

Asked about the rise in anti-immigration sentiment in Ireland, Sr Stan said it is a "loud minority".

"I think it's a minority, but if we're not strong and positive, that minority can grow. It's a minority, but they're loud, and their voice is heard.

Our health service would fall asunder if we didn't have migrants.

"It's important that the rest of us say the positive things about migration. For one, our health service would fall asunder if we didn't have migrants.

"A number of people in the book who took in Ukrainians express their gratitude for that, and their gratitude for being able to share what they had with migrant families. It was wonderful to read."

She added: "It's important for us to reach out to others. We have to keep repeating over and over again that immigration is a permanent, and positive, reality."

In Gratitude: Unlocking the Fullness of Life, Sr Stan brings together over 100 voices from across Ireland, including well-known media personalities, social media influencers, musicians, politicians, journalists, charity workers, and business owners.

Those who wrote entries in the book include the likes of Damien Dempsey, Enda Kenny, George Lee, Grainne Seoige, Justine McCarthy, Kevin Bakhurst, Leo Varadkar, Matt Cooper and Niall Quinn. Each contributor "shares their reflections on what gratitude means to them, offering a diverse and rich tapestry of perspectives on this increasingly popular and transformative practice".

While the entries in the book are from a diverse group of people, Sr Stan said there are some common themes.

Relationships

"Relationships... whether it was relationships with their families, with friends, neighbours, colleagues, that was key.

"People's deep gratitude for other people in their lives was noticeable. That was lovely because it means it spreads from them out to other people."

She said she was both "surprised and overwhelmed" by the honesty and openness of contributors to the book.

"The pieces people wrote are really inspiring. I hope it will bring happiness to many.

"If, each day, we can engage in the practice of gratitude for even three things, small or big, it can positively impact our lives and the world. It can literally change our lives.

"It's interesting, a number of people who wrote said they have a journal to write things that they are grateful for, and that it has changed their lives."

She hopes the book can be a "companion" that "inspires people to remember the things they are grateful for in their own lives".

Gratitude can be everywhere, even in the midst of the terrible things happening in the world.

"It wasn't onerous at all to write the book, because people responded in such a positive way. The essays in it, each one of them is inspiring in different ways. I'm being honest, it's not just because I compiled it.

"Gratitude can be everywhere, even in the midst of the terrible things happening in the world, wars and conflicts. Within that, there are people working to bring good news to people."

She said she has found gratitude in her charity work over the years.

"In my own life, dealing with people who are troubled, they all find something to be grateful for, and this can help them cope with their troubles as well."

Sr Stan said people from various walks of life contributed to the book.

"Some migrants wrote in the book, some people experiencing homelessness. Everyone who contributed is grateful for something. It's not only the people who are comfortable and have money who are grateful, it's often the other things in life.

"Even those who said they have everything, were grateful for the simple things in life. Those struggling were grateful to those helping them.

"People who you consider well off or comfortable are often grateful for simple things, and grateful for the opportunity to help others and to serve.

"I hope it's a book people will be able to dip into, and apply it to themselves, to say 'my goodness, I'm grateful for that too'."

Gratitude: Unlocking the Fullness of Life, priced €19.99, will be available in bookshops from Sunday, October 20th