An Irish nun, Sister Lena Deevy, has been given a human rights award in Boston, Massachusetts. A member of the Little Sisters of the Assumption, she is executive director of the Irish Immigration Centre in the city. Sister Lena is also involved in a literacy project in Haiti and in human rights issues concerning American Indians, black Americans and members of other ethnic communities.
Previous recipients of the Isaac Hecker Award include Cesar Chaves, who championed the civil rights of migrant workers, and Sister Helen Prejean, author of Dead Man Walking, about death row inmates.
Before going to the US, Sister Lena worked in Ballymun, Dublin, for many years. She is from Crettyard, Co Laois.