Before the local elections last month, many onlookers saw the posters of African faces strapped to the telegraph poles as a signal that we were moving further along the path to integration. But at the end of the day, of the 30-odd Africans who contested the polls, only one could claim victory. The question has been asked countless times: what went wrong?
In my own view, Ireland seems like a country being dragged against its will into the integration process. The structures of integration appear very unstable, and the application of laws to strengthen it is erratic. Indeed, in many cases the State has turned against its immigrant guests by way of increased restrictions and offside policies.
In turn, this has fuelled ill feelings among sections of the indigenous population who, out of ignorance, feel that immigrants are part of the cause for the economic problems we are facing. Surely this must have played a fundamental role in the election outcome.
But it is really as simple as this? A recent encounter leads me to believe it’s a bit more complicated.
Not long ago at my workplace, an Irishman who had had a little too much to drink staggered in with hunger on his mind. “Where can I eat something,” he asked in a rural accent. I directed him to an African restaurant nearby where he could get himself a good feed.
Shortly afterwards, on my break, I met my tipsy friend at the restaurant as he was waiting for his spicy African rice. “Have you ordered your meal?” I asked. “Sure my friend,” he replied, putting on a boyish smile.
As I sat down, my new friend engaged me in a very interesting chat. He started by admitting that he was frightened when he entered the restaurant, because there were so many black people around him in the place. Indeed, my friend said he actually felt threatened by the number of Africans, who he thought might attack him!
Of course, this was far from the case. “We are just ignorant,” he said later, referring to his white Irish compatriots, and I felt perturbed that in this modern era, people still feel this way. In light of this, how could black candidates have really expected many white votes in the local elections?
The media, as society’s fourth estate, is supposed to challenge this kind of ignorance by reporting and highlighting the truth in what happens around us. But are they doing their job? To me, that’s a definite ‘no’. And I ask, how can the electorate vote for candidates whose people are constantly being rubbished by a good number of their opinion leaders?
But this ignorance among the native Irish is coupled with widespread apathy on the part of Africans. Economic, employment and immigration issues are enough to make Ireland’s Africans disillusioned about the political process – ultimately to their own detriment.
While it is wonderful that Portlaoise’s former mayor Rotimi Adebari won a seat on his town’s council, it’s clear that he is the exception to the rule. It seems to me that most African candidates did not conduct enough grassroots work in their communities that would surely have been reflected in strong local support at the polls. But it is a lesson to be learned; after all, a journey of a thousand kilometres begins with a single step.
Ukachukwu Okorie is originally from Nigeria. Visit his website at www.olumouka.com
