DJ Ram - Part 1

Last February (2010), I conducted an interview with an interesting character from Libya. Ramadan Bettamer, better known as DJ Ram,is the owner of Dublin's only Reggae shop and his rise to success has been long but fruitful. The FD has decided to post the entire script of the interview for viewers.

I believe that Ram encapsulates the new, multicultural Ireland and his story is of an African entreprenuer who has triumphed against the odds. The interview will be posted in three parts over the coming weeks. Hopefully you'll find it of interest. Best of all though, it might get your asses down to the Crow Street Bazar where you'll find Ram's shop. It's a must for all Reggae fans......


How Ireland has changed my life since arrival:

“My name is Ramadan Bettamer and my nick-name is Ram. That is why I’m known as DJ Ram. I come from Libya, a place called Benghazi which is the second city in Libya. When I was in Libya I got a high level of education and had just started in college when we were sent to study abroad. That led to me coming to Ireland.

When I left Libya I first travelled to England, where I studied English. I knew some English but it wasn’t great. I stayed in school there for six months and I stayed with an English family to prepare myself for my project as an aircraft engineer.

Before I started training I had to learn English first at the Anglo-Continental school in Bournemouth so everything could be understood, as all the lectures were given in English. The original plan was for me to study in Canada but I couldn’t get any school available to take me so I went to England. I spent six months (1983) studying in England having great fun. Bournemouth is a great city and my English really improved. Up till then I didn’t know that I’d be going to Ireland. Ireland wasn’t on the map. The choice was either stay in England or go to Canada.

When I left college in Libya I got an opportunity to go abroad and study as an aircraft engineer and wanted to take it, just like everyone else. It’s a great job to have as an aircraft engineer. I have a brother who is a pilot but my Dad, at the time said: ‘what’s the point of having two pilots in the family? Why don’t you study engineering?’ So the opportunity came with Arab Airlines, who were looking to recruit Libyans as they were relying, at the time, on foreign labour. A lot of people would take an opportunity like that because it would improve their lives immensely lifestyle-wise, salary-wise and lead to a more prestigious life.

After Bournemouth I came over to Ireland where Aer Lingus had classes available to train me, based at Dublin airport at classrooms set up there. The classes were put into three different groups: (1) instruments, (2) electrical, (3) radio and radar. The radio and radar group is what I qualified and specialised in. For four years I studied theory and practice in aircraft engineering and every three weeks we would have exams. The funding for my training was provided by the Libyan government because they needed people to go abroad and study and return with skills to be used to help the Libyan economy.


I continued my training until 1987 but the US bombing of Libya made it difficult to go home. The longer I spent abroad the less funding I was getting from the Libyan authorities. At this time the political situation in Libya was changing dramatically and that made it impossible for a lot of people like me to go back and contribute to the country.

At that point I had to make harsh decisions. Now I had to rely on my own resources in a foreign country. After spending four years here I made a lot of friends, almost like a family to me. I found myself working in a Take Away restaurant only two weeks after I finished at Dublin airport. In this country it’s who you know that helps and that’s what kept me going.

Back then I lived in Santry and I knew all the neighbours, even the kids knew me and getting involved in the local Karate club helped me increase my contacts. It was, at the time, a novelty to know a black person in Dublin. We were looked upon in a positive light because we weren’t refugees or asylum seekers – we had real qualifications to offer and we had money.

Initially coming from Libya to England there was a big change in my life, a culture shock. In England the standard of living was great. But going back to Ireland was different. Britain was, still is, more advanced than Ireland. Some of my colleagues went back to England at that stage because they couldn’t hack it here. This was at a time when Ireland was poor. Fewer people were buying cars – even second hand cars!”

From 1987 I worked as a Chef in a few places including The Cedar Tree Lebanese restaurant and then in Wolfman Jack’s in Rathmines, which was the same style of restaurant as Captain America’s. I know the owner, Jay Bourke (proprietor of several hostelries around Dublin). I started as a kitchen porter and then worked my way up from there. One of the most famous customers, while I was at The Cedar Tree, was Mick Hucknall from Simply Red.

As well as my work as a Chef I had started doing some work as a film extra. I worked with some famous actors such as Dennis Hopper, Craig Charles and Daniel Day Lewis. When they were looking for extras to work in In The Name Of the Father, I was chosen because of my Rastafarian appearance. Getting to know people in the film business such as Jim Sheridan was another good result of getting involved in movies here. All of this time I was building up my contacts which has gone on to help me here. This was through working with a large group of over 400 on the set of In The Name Of the Father. It was like a big family. Following my involvement in that film led to working, three years later on The Boxer. It was an honour to work with Daniel Day Lewis.”

Next week:
Comparing the recession of the 1980's with post Celtic Tiger Ireland; the treatment of immigrants.