This article is from page 20 of the 2008-05-20 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 20 JPG
THE possibility of a mass exodus of the Brazilian community from Gort would have a devastating impact on the town, both economically and so- cially. That is the opinion of Adrian Feeney, who founded a Diploma in Community Development and Inte- eration in the village two years ago. With Brazilians now believed to number almost 40 per cent of the towns total population, Mr Feeney believes that a mass immigration brought about by a downturn in the
economy could turn Gort into a ghost town.
“Tt would have a devastating im- pact on Gort in a number of differ- ent ways. They are very much part of our community here as it is and they do contribute both socially and economically.
“They buy stuff in our shops, the rent houses in our community, it would have a real impact economi- cally as well as socially. They did put Gort on the map,’ said Mr Feeney, who is a former head of the Gort Chamber of Commerce.
According to research being com- piled by Brian McGrath of the De- part Political Science and Sociol- ogy at NUI, Galway, large levels of Gort’s Brazilian community are working without documentation in a black market. This puts them in a particularly vulnerable position fol- lowing the downturn in the economy and especially in the construction industry.
Mr Feeney believes that the prob- lem of undocumented Brazilians in Gort has been overstated and has im- proved greatly over the last number
of years.
“We ran the Community Devel- opment Diploma ourselves in Gort which insured that all their rights would be looked after. Especially people who would not have the best command of English,’ continued Weoteays
“T think that a lot of the problems regarding the black market and peo- ple getting exploited were redressed a year ago. There is no doubt that there are still people living in Gort who don’t have all their paperwork, but there will be repercussions for
anyone who doesn’t have their paper- work in any country.
“These people immigrated with their friends and family and there is no real doubt that there are people working in the black market. I think that the repercussion for them after the slowdown would be the same as everyone else employed in the con- struction industry.
“But the diploma was a very posi- tive step, it really highlighted the need for these guys to be legit but it was also about highlighting to the Brazilians their own rights.”