Uruemu Adejinmi Becomes First Black Mayor In Ireland

From asylum seeker to Ireland’s first black mayor in seven years

Ireland's first black mayor today hailed his election as a symbol of how European countries can adapt successfully to rapid rates of immigration.

R useotimi Adebari, who arrived seven years ago as an asylum seeker and became a councillor in 2004, has been chosen as the first citizen of Portlaoise.

A Christian from Nigeria, he was forced to flee his hometown of Okeodan in the south-western state of Ogun because of religious persecution. When he settled in Portlaoise with his wife and family, his two children were the only foreign pupils in the local school; there are now more than 30 nationalities in its classes.