Mid Ulster's growing ethnic community hold a 'share and listening' meeting with local police
A ‘share and listening’ meeting attended by various nationalities and religions reflecting Mid Ulster area's growing ethnic community, has taken place in The Hub, Cookstown.
The Diversity Community Event featured representatives from Turkey, India and Syrian Muslim community, The Netherlands, India, Sudan, Malawi Christian community, as well as other local people from Cookstown and Magherafelt, and allowed an exchange of views with local PSNI officers.
The meeting took the form of an open conversation about several issues that they experienced such as: living in a different country; work and education-discrimination, and language, culture and faith.
A spokesperson for the organisers said: “There was a pleasant atmosphere and the guests were not holding back to tell their stories and how they experience their lives in the place, area and town they are living.
"As well questions were asked and we could learn by just listening and trying to understand how the other feels and think. One of the guests, who is a local, said something so interesting: ‘Northern Ireland was moving from being a mono cultural to multi cultural, Northern Ireland is moving from being mono ethnic to being more poly ethnic.’”