Becoming Irish: Documentary follows the story of Thomas Davis Hurler
By Tiana Binns
For many people all over the world, one of their biggest struggles is finding a place that they can call home and be considered a citizen in.
Unfortunately, it is extremely difficult to become a citizen in most countries. People can wait for years, working on their application and waiting for the process to be completed.
Thomas Davis member Zak Moradi who plays senior hurling with Leitrim
That is true for Leitrim hurler and Thomas Davis GAA member, Zak Moradi. Zak, who currently resides in Tallaght, was born in Ramadi, Iraq.
His family was forced to flee the country during the Iran/Iraq war when tensions rose incredibly high after the 9/11 attacks.
Zak and his family arrived to Ireland, in Carrick-on-Shannon, in 2002 when he was 11-years-old. However, to this day, Zak is still not a citizen of Ireland.
Out of his eleven siblings, he is the only one who is still in the process of officially being able to call Ireland his homeland.
Since arriving to Ireland, Zak has made great strides for himself, specifically in the hurling community. In Iraq, he had a great love of soccer, but with ease he transitioned towards hurling when he arrived to this country.
Last June, he was asked to become apart of the Leitrim hurling team and shortly after, Zak along with his team won the 2019 Lory Meagher Cup against Lancashire.
Zak’s journey to becoming an Irish citizen, along with two others, is featured in the new documentary, Becoming Irish, created as part of the RTÉ Docland series of documentaries.
This documentary raises the discussion about the difficulty of becoming a citizen and the hoops people have to jump through in order to do so.
Many people apply to become Irish citizens each year and many do not make the cut. On March 3, 5000 people from 135 countries became new Irish citizens.
A member of Thomas Davis GAA Club, Zak spent 18 months on his application and is now awaiting the news that will change his future.
Elinor Lyon, who moved from the U.K. to Ireland in 2010, is another hopeful applicant that appears in this documentary, along with Carlos Gonzalez from Venezuela.
For all of these applicants, the stakes are high. With thousands of applicants each year, this documentary series will follow the journey of these three people in fulfilling their dream to become Irish citizens.
