URUEMU ADEJINMI HAS become the first African-Irish woman to be appointed as a mayor in Ireland.
The Fianna Fáil councillor has been elected Cathaoirleach of the Longford Municipal District, where she currently sits as Leas Cathaoirleach.
Adejinmi joined Fianna Fáil in 2016 and became a councillor last year.
She previously was an executive officer at the Department of Health and has a Masters of Business Administration from Athlone Institute of Technology.
Speaking on RTÉ Radio One’s Drivetime, Adejinmi said that she discovered that there was “very little involvement of people of migrant background in political parties”.
“I started actively engaging with my friends, encouraging them and sharing the advantages of getting more politically active, because we talk about issues in terms of getting access to work, getting equal opportunity, and government is where policy is decided upon, where legislation is drawn up,” Adejinmi said.
This is where we can really try to start influencing things to make sure that when policies are being rolled out, when regulations are being made, every aspect of society is being catered for,” she said.
“My attitude is if there’s an issue, get in there and fix it.”
Adejinmi came to Longford from Nigeria in 2003.
“I identity as Irish, I identify as African, I wear both hats with confidence and with comfort.”
Longford has three municipal districts – Longford, Granard and Ballymahon – each of which meets monthly in addition to meetings of the full county council.
Outgoing Cathaoirleach of the Longford Municipal District, Fine Gael’s Peggy Nolan, has been on the county council since 2014.
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