THINKHOUSE has partnered with GOAL NextGen and fashion designers Farouk858 (Farouk Alao) and Helen Steele to launch the “Céad Míle Collection”, a new initiative that aims to reclaim the Irish flag as a symbol of welcome, belonging and solidarity.
According to GOAL NextGen, the project is intended to demonstrate how creativity and culture can help generate conversations around identity, inclusion and what it means to belong in modern Ireland.
The collection will see Alao’s contemporary fashion approach combined with Steele’s distinctive artistic style to reinterpret the colours and symbolism of the Irish flag.
The initiative comes against a backdrop of research cited by the organisation which found that 66% of non-white people in Ireland had experienced racism during the previous 12 months.
Separate research carried out by GOAL NextGen and THINKHOUSE in 2024 found that 80% of respondents agreed that everyone who calls Ireland home deserves to feel that they belong, while 82% believed creative culture can help people connect and overcome differences.
Victoria Walshe, head of global citizenship at the charity GOAL Global, said the organisation did not want to “surrender the Irish flag to anyone who uses it to say who belongs here and who doesn’t”.
“The Irish flag belongs to all of us, and its message should be Céad Míle Fáilte,” she said.
“At GOAL NextGen, we believe creativity has the power to start conversations that politics often can’t. Through this collection, we want to remind people that Irish identity doesn’t have to be about exclusion. It can be about welcome, belonging and community.”
Farouk858 said clothing, like national symbols, can communicate identity before people speak.
“You can travel to the far corners of the globe and people can still sense that you’re Irish before you’ve said a word. That’s what clothing does too, it speaks identity before language gets the chance,” he said.
“I’m excited to build something with Helen that puts Céad Míle at the centre of what that identity means.”
Steele said that the project also offered an opportunity to rethink how the Irish flag is perceived.
“There’s something deeply sad about seeing the Irish flag and immediately assuming it represents hostility rather than pride. Our national flag should be a symbol that makes people feel welcome, not wary,” the Monaghan-based designer and artist said.
“Collaborating with Farouk on this collection gives us the chance to reclaim that symbol and reimagine it as a reflection of the Ireland so many of us believe in: one built on kindness, hospitality and shared humanity.”
The “Céad Míle Collection” will be unveiled at a public event in Dublin this autumn, bringing together fashion, art and activism.ma
