Life in Ballyhaunis, Ireland’s most culturally diverse town

As Ireland prepares give shelter to some 3,500 refugees from the Middle East and Africa, Edwin McGreal travelled to our most cosmopolitan town to see what we can learn about integration from Ballyhaunis, Co Mayo

When Manar Cherbatji, a Syrian Muslim, first came to Ballyhaunis in 1988, many people looked at her head-scarf and asked if was she a nun.

It was a comment of its time but in a radically changing ethnic landscape in Ireland, fewer places are as multicultural in 2015 as Ballyhaunis.