This article is from page 12 of the 2006-10-03 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 12 JPG
The people of Gort have branded as ‘rubbish’ media reports that Brazilian gangs are beginning to take hold in the south Galway town. This follows claims in last week’s Sunday World newspaper, which stated that some people in Gort were “frightened that someone is going to be killed” as a result of violence between the Brazilian and Irish communities.
Locals say there was an incident between a number of local and Brazilian youths outside one of a Gort Pub. Two arrests were made following this incident and a file is currently being prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions.
“The whole situation was completely blown out of all proportions,” said Niamh Clune of the Gort Regional Alliance for Community and Environment (GRACE).
“We will be starting an integration process with the guards and the Brazilian Association so if there is any trouble coming from a small element of the Brazilian community, we will be on top of it like a flash.
“The Brazilian Association is part of GRACE and as such I know that they don’t want to see any of this kind of behaviour happening.”
Gort has the highest level of Brazilian nationals in the country with more than 1,000 immigrants arriving at the town from the South American country over the last five years. Initially they arrived to work in Duffy’s Meat Factory, but have sense integrated themselves into a wide variety of industries in the town.
“It really isn’t as bad as (what has been reported),” a spokesperson from Gort Garda Station told The Clare People yesterday. “I was working on Saturday night and it was completely quiet.”
The population of Gort has swelled dramatically is recent years with the latest census figures showing a 53 per cent increase over the last four years. The majority of the Brazilian National’s have arrived in Gort from the city of Bralilia.
In recent years gangs, have become commonplace in many of Brazil’s major cities. In May of this year more than 150 died in clashes between rival gangs and police in Sao Paulo.
The Clare People contacted the Brazilian Association in Gort, but they declined to make any comment on the situation at this point.