Immigrant Council of Ireland mourns the passing of its founder, Sr. Stanislaus Kennedy.
03.11.2025 - The Immigrant Council of Ireland mourns the loss of our founder, Sr. Stanislaus Kennedy, whose passing brings great sorrow to all who knew her.
CEO Teresa Buczkowska said: ‘Sr. Stan, as we affectionately knew her, was a courageous and intrepid woman. She established many social justice initiatives to address the challenges of her time but she was always thinking about the future. Sr. Stan understood how important it is for every human being to have a sense of home, and the challenges facing migrants in a new country. With this in mind, she founded the Immigrant Council of Ireland to ensure that everyone who makes Ireland home feels that they belong. Sr. Stan was pivotal to our success as an organisation. She helped us and guided us in more ways than we can describe. As a migrant woman myself, I am immensely proud to continue her legacy through the work of the Immigrant Council, but we will miss her guidance, courage, and strength. I will miss her.’
Immigrant Council Chair Roja Fazaeli added: 'Sr. Stan regularly reminded the Immigrant Council to be a platform for the voices of migrants. She was an ally in the truest sense of the word. We pay tribute to her tenacity, her clarity, and her kindness. We thank her from the bottom of our hearts for everything she did for us, and for Ireland.'
Sr Stan set up the Immigrant Council of Ireland in 2001. Over the past 24 years Sr. Stan served as Chair and member of the board of directors, before stepping down in 2023. During her tenure she influenced and shaped many social justice champions.
Former CEO Brian Killoran said: 'Stan was more than just our founder, she was our friend, our mentor and our constant ally. In the early 2000s Stan saw the changing face of Ireland and had the foresight to know that these new communities would bring so much positivity to Ireland but also would need support. She gathered a small group of experts and allies and founded the Immigrant Council of Ireland to support migrant communities and to extoll the positive impact of migration to Ireland. Stan was everything we love her for - she was humble, funny, wise, irreverent, immensely powerful in her quiet understated way. She was unapologetically an ally of migrant communities and a fierce advocate for migrants’ rights and inherent human dignity. But she was even more than that, she was our friend and we will miss her dearly.'
Former Chair of the Immigrant Council, John Cunningham, concluded: ‘Stan was a powerful force in Ireland and all of our lives. She taught us the concept of social justice, human rites and the power of one. She encouraged us, she emboldened us and most of all provided clear values to guide us in all the work we did. She will want us to continue her work and commitment to marginalised communities and those without a voice. There will never be another like her but we remember Treasa Kennedy from Lispole and commit to continue her legacy.'
ENDS
Contact: Aisling Redden, Email: communications@immigrantcouncil.ie
Notes to the Editor
Teresa Buczkowska, CEO, Immigrant Council of Ireland and Brian Killoran, former CEO are available for interview.
About the Immigrant Council
The Immigrant Council of Ireland is the leading national human rights organisation working to defend migrant rights in Ireland. It provides free immigration advice and legal support through its helpline and law centre, as well as campaigning for immigration reform. The Council also provides support to victims of racism and human trafficking and provides opportunities for migrants to connect with each other and their communities. Visit www.immigrantcouncil.ie for more information.