‘Because of the nature of Irish people, I’ve never felt like a foreigner here’

Mayo’s county town, Castlebar, may have felt very Irish and insular when Algerian Mustapha Aboubi moved there in 1997, but that is no longer the case. Just call into his restaurant, The Olive Tree, any lunchtime and you could be arriving into an exotic North African or Middle Eastern bazaar.

That is not only because of the owner’s sunny smile and the delicate odours of spices and oriental teas. Neither is it because his staff hail from South Africa and Georgia as well as Algeria and his customers could be from Achill or Izmir. Over the years, The Olive Tree has become an informal hub for immigrants, particularly the large numbers of Africans and Middle Eastern people who have moved to the town since 2016. Back then 19 Syrian families found refuge there while that number has since increased to 30 families, with some of them running their own businesses now in the town and its environs.

Indeed, almost a decade earlier, 50 Burmese refugees from the Karen tribe moved to Castlebar, under a United Nations resettlement scheme, having fled the repression meted out by the military junta.

“Because of the nature of Irish people being open and welcoming, I’ve never felt like a foreigner here or have experienced any racism,” says Aboubi. “I don’t think it has anything to do with the fact that I married an Irish woman either or that we have five children, now aged from 19 to 32.”

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Aboubi says his experience of local people was that once you met them in circumstances like in the local shop or at a supplier for the restaurant, they get to know you gradually and you simply became part of the community.

“From my knowledge that is how all of the newcomers feel,” he says.

From Algiers, Aboubi, who speaks French, Spanish, Arabic and English fluently, opened a grocery shop and delicatessen when he first moved to Castlebar.

“Then, I quickly found that my customers were interested in this type of cuisine and when the place next door became available in 2002, I opened here,” he explains over coffee and a rainbow of Turkish Delight sweets.

He says that back in the early days locals would ask, “What’s in this?” and “What are the ingredients in that?”

“They don’t need to do this any more. People have become far more sophisticated about different ethnic cuisines,” he says.

On the other hand, for those who have moved from other countries – whether it be as economic or political immigrants – the option of eating and, indeed, smelling native foods helps people who are living far from home, says Aboubi.

“Once they know somebody has a cafe like mine where they recognise the foods, it is a comfort for them to come in. It becomes like a home away from home. We often get chatting and I give them advice, perhaps about the job possibilities or where to educate their children,” he says.

There has been a big upsurge of this in the past year, says Aboubi, with 700 refugees living at the nearby Breaffy House Resort.

“Essentially, as our news headlines highlight every day, the big issue is accommodation. Government should have resolved this so that families are not left in hotels for more than a week. This issue has become such a negative one but it could be resolved if the political will was there and then everyone would benefit from the riches of diversity,” he says.

Aboubi also says that local people are not just welcoming or helpful to those less fortunate who have moved to the town.

“I have been fundraising here for Syria for many years and most recently for the Syrian-Turkish earthquake which devastated the Hatay region. Myself and some friends will be heading off in the next week to deliver food parcels and money because of the huge generosity of Irish people,” he says.

“We also have a programme at the moment to help with tented accommodation. We are going before the end of Ramadan but the more often you do it, the easier it gets,” adds Aboubi smiling, before unlocking the front doors of The Olive Tree for a group of awaiting customers.