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DUBLIN, Ireland -- Ireland recently got its first black mayor, the latest sign of how rapid immigration is changing the face of 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 last week, a commuter town west of Dublin.

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

Adebari 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 onward _ a wave attracted by Ireland's suddenly booming economy and its relatively lax immigration rules.

These days, black 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 with their communities.

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

Adebari, who received asylum after arriving with his wife and two children in 2000, said he had trouble finding work _ 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 and founded a consultancy advising authorities and immigrant groups on how to work together.

"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."

State's first black mayor elected

A Nigerian man who arrived here seven years ago seeking asylum has become Ireland's first black mayor.

He was elected under a mayoral pact that sees the position rotate among the Fine Gael/Sinn Féin/independent members of the council.

Speaking to The Irish Times yesterday, Mr Adebari said he wanted to use his year as mayor to say to immigrants that Ireland is a "land of opportunities, and it is a country that is described as a place of a thousand welcomes".

Mr Adebari arrived in Dublin with his wife and two children in 2000 fleeing religious persecution and later settled in Portlaoise.

He was elected to the town council as an independent in 2004, polling 321 first-preference votes.

Since then he has set up Optimum Point, a consultancy that trains companies and educational institutions in cross-cultural awareness. He has a Masters in Intercultural Studies from Dublin City University.

Mr Adebari works for Laois County Council co-ordinating an integration project for local immigrants.

Green Party leader and Minister of State Trevor Sargent congratulated Mr Adebari on his election as Mayor of Portlaoise.

"His new position as mayor and first citizen of Portlaoise will, I hope, be an encouragement for more people to get involved in politics and bring about greater representation for Ireland's new communities," Mr Sargent said.

"Cllr Adebari's personal story of fleeing religious persecution in Nigeria and creating a new, productive life for himself and his family in Ireland, is extremely inspiring. I wish him the best in his year in office and hope that he achieves his mission of dispelling prejudices and fostering a greater understanding of, and engagement with, immigrant communities in Ireland."