Ireland's First Black Mayor

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DUBLIN, June 28 (Reuters) A political asylum seeker from Nigeria became Ireland's first black mayor today, seven years after he fled religious persecution in his homeland.

Rotimi Adebari, 43, was elected mayor in a six to three vote by his fellow town councillors in Portlaoise in central Ireland, broadcaster RTE reported on its Web site.

Green Party leader and junior Agriculture Minister Trevor Sargent said Adebari's story of ''fleeing religious persecution in Nigeria and creating a new, productive life for himself and his family in Ireland, is extremely inspiring''.