‘I was insulted so many times, the easiest thing to do would have been to give up and quit’

Not one of Meath’s county councillors present at the local authority's July meeting was able to say if they were familiar with the county’s migrant integration strategy, when asked by Cllr Yemi Adenuga.

The Navan councillor was highlighting the issue of racism in the county following the killing of George Lloyd by police in the in the United States "which has drawn unprecedented attention globally to the issue of racism and a growing support for Black Lives Matter movement, which has provided a parallel platform for migrants in Ireland to finally have confidence to share their experiences of racism."

She said that in Meath, while there is amazing community spirit, "the truth is, we also have racism in our midst".

"And because many indigenous Irish people have not seen it first hand, they don’t realise the amount of emotional, mental, and sometimes physical pain that migrants here have to endure as a result of racism," she continued.

She said that last year, when she was canvassing in the local elections, she endured terrible abuse on the doorsteps on Navan.

"I was insulted so many times, the easiest thing to do would have been to give up and call it quits, but it’s not in my nature. I was called a black monkey who wanted to take people’s jobs in Irish politics. I was asked if I was intelligent enough to run – and it wasn’t because I was a woman. One man even asked me if I thought I was Irish now that I was running for election. I had to work 10 times harder to prove that I was good enough to serve and give back to my community of Navan that has been good to me since we moved here 16 years ago."

Cllr Adenuga said she has four children, and they have all experienced racism in Navan, and in school, not just from their classmates, but from teachers too, which disappointed her.

"And some of the kids asked my 12 year-old to give them the ‘N’ pass. He asked what that meant. They said they knew they weren’t allowed call him the ‘N’ word, but if he gave them an ‘N’ pass, they could.

“These kids were only 10/11/12 years old. They had to learn that somewhere."

Cllr Adenuga remarked that the councillors were meant to be key stakeholders in the Meath-Louth joint migrant integration strategy, to provide leadership around diversity and interculturalism, giving a priority to political, economic and social inclusion in decision making.

"If the councillors are not aware of their role in the strategy, how can it be implemented," she asked.

She asked that Meath County Council consciously and deliberately lead other counties in the fight against racism by being the first county to openly stand up against racism.

"Meath has proudly produced the first female black councillor in the history of this country. We should today commit to educate our people in Meath on issues of race, racism and inclusion by funding such an initiative."

Cllr Adenuga’s council colleagues supported her motion, and she has since had a meeting with the council CEO, Jackie Maguire, to advance the proposals.