Ireland Elects Its First Black Mayor

(AP)  Ireland elected its first black mayor Thursday, the latest sign of how rapid immigration is changing this once all-white nation.

Rotimi Adebari, a Nigerian who arrived in Ireland seven years ago as an asylum-seeker, was elected unopposed to lead the council of Portlaoise, a bustling commuter town west of Dublin.

Adebari, 43, who has been an independent politician on Portlaoise Town Council since 2004, was backed by both the right-wing Fine Gael party and left-wing Sinn Fein.

Adebari, who planned a post-election party Friday at the new parish hall in Portlaoise, called it "a great honor to become the No. 1 citizen of the town."

Little more than a decade ago, a black person in Ireland risked being gawked at, so rare was the sight of visitors from different racial backgrounds. But Ireland has absorbed more than 30,000 asylum seekers - particularly from Africa's most populous nation, Nigeria - since the mid-1990s, a wave attracted by Ireland's booming economy and its relatively lax immigration rules.

These days, West African entrepreneurs run stretches of shops in urban Dublin and other Irish towns and cities, and social activists like Adebari are encouraging the newcomers to integrate into their communities.

"I got involved in the community and I volunteered. It gave me the opportunity to meet people firsthand and they got to know me," Adebari said. "We all have to make an effort to reach out to one another."

Adebari traveled to Ireland with his wife and two boys in 2000 and claimed asylum on the basis of religious persecution, citing bloody clashes between Christians and Muslims in his homeland. His application was rejected because of insufficient evidence he had personally suffered persecution, but he gained residency because his third child, another boy, was born in Ireland.

Asylum-seekers flocked to Ireland in part to gain European Union citizenship on the basis of having a child born in the country. Ireland in 2004 stopped granting citizenship to foreign parents of an Irish-born child, a law that had been unique in Europe.

Adebari said he had trouble finding work at first - in part because of an Irish law that bars people from working while they are seeking asylum.

So he volunteered at a local tennis club, helped found a lobbying group for unemployed people in Portlaoise and ran for office, winning a council seat on his first try in 2004.

Since then he's finished a master's degree in intercultural studies at Dublin City University, founded a consultancy advising authorities and immigrant groups on how to work together, and hosts a weekly radio show on his local station, Midlands FM.

"I want to encourage immigrants to be a force in their communities, to engage with their communities," he said. "People will get to know you. Their perception of you will change just like that. That's what happened to me."
By Shawn Pogatchnik

[pete546679]

toldyouso21!!! Where did you get this rubbish about Spanish blood and black Irish from? The Spanish never infaded Ireland. Some Spanish from the Armada landed or were ship wrecked on Irish soil after their defeat by the English navy in the 16th Century but most were killed and robbed. I would like to know where you get all this from. No one I know here in Ireland has ever heard anything like this.

[iceman_1960]

"toldyouso21: From what I was talking about was towards a drink--Black Russian. Nothing but a little humor, that's all."
- Posted by rushman71 at 11:58 AM : Jun 29, 2007

"Reggie Hammond [Eddie Murphy] in the redneck saloon. Takes a deep breath, moves toward the bar. Smiles at the good ol' boys. They don't smile back. He sits down at the bar.

Bartender: Yeah.
Hammond: Vodka.
Bartender: Maybe you better have a Black Russian.
Hammond: No, man, I think I'll have a vodka."

Scene in "48 Hours" (1982 film)

[Diamonddavej]

The Fine Gael party is not right wing, it made up of members who are centrist "Christian-democratic" and left wing "social-democratic", it is overall "progressive centre". There are no explicitly right-wing parties in Ireland.

[infidel_us]

A leprecoon!!

ROFL!!! That's BAAAAAD!!!! Funny, but BAAAAAD!!!! :)

[lars008-2009]

there goes the neighborhood....

[rushman71]

toldyouso21: From what I was talking about was towards a drink--Black Russian. Nothing but a little humor, that's all.

[iceman_1960]

I can't believe the way people are trying to bring race into this story.




(just kidding)

[toldyouso21]

I've heard of a Black Russian, but never a Black Irish!!!

Top o' the mornin' to ya, G!!!! LOL
Posted by rushman71 at 10:50 AM : Jun 29, 2007


Read your history books. There are indeed "Black Irish" and they exist in 2 forms:

1. A derogatory term given to the Irish in the late 1800s due to their immigration status and that they often competed with slaves and later former slaves for jobs, especially in the South. (for a while, a former slave was PREFERRED over an Irish person for the work)--they were perceived to do it better and to be more --"from America" than the immigrants. Also, since owning slaves was very expensive, those who used immigrants for housekeeping, etc were perceived to not be as well off as those who could own slaves, especially in New Orleans.

2. A group of Irish said to have been infiltrated with Spanish blood following an invasion --and since much of Spain and Italy were infiltrated with Moorish blood (African) due to the earlier invasions, those people were termed "black Irish" to indicate the mixed heritage. One should note that this blood mixture (if it is true and many try to doubt this) is so minute that the term cannot be discerned by looking at any Irish person and could only be discerned via genotyping which to my knowledge has never been done.

[casper10x]

Kommand: I find that a racist remark, and not worthy of the CBS site.

Regarding racism, in a more serious form please consider two things. 1. Cuba has anti Black laws to keep the Blacks "on the farm" and out of the major cities like Havana, bad for toursist ? Who knows. (SEE therealcuba. com. 2. On the reverse side, back in July 2006, more than 10 Black college football players at Fresno State summer program ( not Fresno students) at the dorms, decided to rape an 11 year old girl who they spotted on campus, dragging her into the dorms. That story was buried, and no reports or charges currently brought. I must say there is a reverse racism afoot, that is as intolerable as the other form. The poor 11 year old and her family deserve justice, and society needs a framework of equal laws.

[rushman71]

I've heard of a Black Russian, but never a Black Irish!!!

Top o' the mornin' to ya, G!!!! LOL