A big-hearted gesture by local singer Brí Carr reduced a Ukranian mother to tears.
The soul-warming encounter took place in Letterkenny’s twin town of Rudolstadt where Brí, along with over 30 other Donegal people, spent St Patrick’s Day.
The small town in Germany’s Thuringia region has become famous for its St Patrick’s Day party which this year captured the attention of the area’s regional television broadcaster.
As part of the Irish celebrations Brí Carr was invited on to the stage of the specially erected marquee. Over 1,000 people gathered to hear musicians, many of them from Donegal, perform. But there was one in particular who caught Ramelton-based Brí’s attention.
“I was on stage and from the crowd you could see this woman pushing her two little girls forward, big smiles on all three of their faces,” she said.
“Their pure joy was very noticeable and when the song was finished, a band from Scotland came on to play. But we got back up to finish the night and they were there dancing away. As we were singing this wee girl went over and got some chocolate eggs and a lit candle and put them at my feet on stage.
“At this stage John Muldowney was singing and he said you know what we’ll do, we’ll do a request for the little girl who was dancing and absolutely beaming at the Irish music. They were just so thrille because we were pointing at them and smiling back.
“When it was over we went down to talk to them because I thought they were a German family who loved the music and the Irish language songs I was singing. I gave the wee girl one of my CDs and you would swear it was a top of the range toy I’d handed her.
“The next thing the mother put the two arms out, she pulled in her two girls and the four of us stood in this huge hug. The tears were tripping her and she managed to explain that she was Ukranian and had just arrived in Germany. In very broken English and through sign language she said she was so happy that her children were enjoying the music because they hadn’t been happy for such a long time.”
ALL SMILES…Brí with Maria, Dionne and their mum Marika.
Following the outbreak of war in Ukraine, Rudolstadt has begun to do its part in helping refugees. A group of 200 people began arriving last week with more due in the coming days. Among the first arrivals were mum Marika and her two daughters eight-year-old Marie and Dionne who is 12.
“It was really emotional for me because I’ve a 12-year-old at home and all I could think was imagine being ripped from your homeland,” said Brí.
“As we were standing there I said to someone this wee girl is an amazing singer and dancer and I asked if she could have her moment in the spotlight.
“They said of course, no problem. So the whole family got up on stage and Maria just threw her arms out as if she was singing and we were all dancing to her.
“It was such a beautiful moment. There have been so many highlights on this trip but for me, that was my absolute highlight.”
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