A TOWN in the west of Ireland has become “samba city”, with a quarter of its residents now hailing from Brazil.

The 2,400-strong population of Gort, Co Galway, has been swelled by a contingent of 600 Brazilians who have settled there over the past four years.

Signs in the local shops are now written in both Portuguese and English, and the Brazilians organise their own concerts and a summer carnival. The Assembleia de Deus, a Pentecostal congregation, has set up a church, and many of Gort’s Brazilians go to the local leisure centre three times a week to pray.

The South Americans were first attracted to the isolated town by jobs at Duffy’s meat plant, but now the new residents work in every part of Gort.

Brian Lynch, the factory manager, says about half his staff are from Brazil. “Sean Duffy went there a few years ago and brought back two or three skilled people. They got on well and more came. Then a lot of the Brazilians brought their brothers, sisters, cousins, uncles and aunts to Ireland,” said Lynch. “All our signs in the factory are in both English and Portuguese. We have translators as well to help people out, but a lot of them have studied English and are quite fluent.

“The Brazilians are lovely people. We have Brazilian nights out. They don’t drink very much but they would dance all night.”

Hundreds of Brazilians gathered in the town’s square in their native costume for 12 hours of dancing to celebrate the carnival season in their own country last summer.

Western Union has been persuaded to open a branch in the town because the workforce send a substantial volume of money back home each week.

The principal of the Convent of Mercy primary, Sr John, said more than 30 children from Brazil attend the national school in the town. Two language support teachers help the newcomers grasp English.

“We try to understand Portuguese as best we can and some of the children pick it up. When a lot of the children arrive they have no English, so it’s quite difficult at the start,” she said. “They play well with the other children and seem to fit in well.”

Brazilian mother-of-two Lucimeire Trindade said she loves everything about Gort — except the weather. She had never even heard of Ireland until a few years ago. “I only heard about it when my husband came to work in Roscommon in 1999. Now I work in Duffy’s and my husband, Marciel, works in another meat plant in the town.”

The 28-year-old feels completely at home in Gort but desperately misses her two sons who returned to Anapolis with her mother last September. “I miss my children, Sagio, who’s seven and Gabriel, who’s three. They were with me for two years and my second baby was born in Ireland. My mum was here with them and she decided to go back because she missed her own mother. I wouldn’t be able to cope without my mother because she minded them. Hopefully they will come back soon.”

Initial wariness by the locals has now dissipated, and the two cultures exchange tips on customs, cooking and even language. “I knew about seven Irish people speaking very good Portuguese,” said Trindade. “Most of the Irish people say ‘good morning’, ‘goodbye’ and ‘thank you’ in Brazilian. A lot of Irish people are learning the Brazilian dance and we cook Brazilian dishes for them as well.”

Duffy’s factory was damaged by fire last Monday, with seven fire units being called to the scene from Ennis, Galway and Loughrea. The blaze was confined to one section of the plant, and was believed to have started in the roof. Nobody was injured, but managers predicted it would be a number of days before operations resume.

Gort’s Brazilian community will feature in an RTE documentary, Seachtain, to be shown this evening.

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