The first Black person to become a mayor in Ireland has said that his election goes a long way to prove that this country has an open and welcoming society that gives everyone an opportunity to excel.
“This is to show to all immigrants that the sky is our limit,” Portlaoise Town Council Mayor Rotimi Adebari said shortly after his inauguration. “Ireland proved that this is a country of a thousand welcomes when they elected me as councillor in 2004. And today has shown that it’s not just a place of a thousand welcomes, but equal opportunity.”
He continued: “When I first threw myself into community life, little did I know that I would be made the First Citizen of Portlaoise.”
Even though the council vote was not unanimous, he said the council is a diverse place. “It is a town and county that doesn’t see colour,” he added.
Adebari’s election as mayor and the overwhelmingly positive reaction that has greeted it, he added, is “the reality of our future” – a slogan he used in his election manifesto in 2004 when he was first elected a councillor. Mayor Adebari and Dr Mathew Taiwo (both originally from Nigeria) became the first Black people to be elected as councillors in Ireland.
Addressing a cross-section of multicultural Ireland at his swearing-in ceremony, Mayor Adebari used the occasion to call on immigrants in Ireland to do their best to integrate. “I would remind ethnic minorities that integration is a two way process – you scratch my back, I scratch your own,” he said.
He noted that one of his main plans for Portlaoise is to use his position to ensure that “there is a dedicated website for the town”, and to also “showcase Portlaoise all over the world”.
Regarding the creation of employment for Portlaoise’s residents, many of whom commute daily to Dublin for work, the Nigerian-born mayor said he would organise business meetings and invite foreign embassies in Ireland to encourage them to promote the establishment of businesses in the town.
In addition, Mayor Adebari said he aims to make the town a conference destination of Ireland. To this end, he urged all organisations in the country to move their conferences to Portlaoise during his 12-month reign as mayor.
Mayor Rotimi Adebari, an independent councillor, was elected with the support of six councillors – including three from Fine Gael, one from Sinn Féin and one independent – from the nine-member council.
