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Portugal’s Secretary Of State for Portuguese Communities visits Dungannon Migrant Workers Support Project at STEP.
Portuguese children from local primary schools greeted António Braga, the Secretary Of State for Portuguese Communities, on his visit to the South Tyrone Empowerment Programme in Dungannon on Friday 10 June.
Mr Braga was presented with Portugal's national flower, the red carnation.
STEP delivers one of the only Migrant Worker Support Projects in Northern Ireland. The visit was an opportunity to highlight the role and situation of Portuguese migrant workers in South Tyrone.
STEP Migrant Project
Services: Union clinics, advice and guidance, interpreter and translation services, training and housing.
The project serves migrants from Portugal, East Timor, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Poland, Brazil, Lithuania, Latvia and Ukraine.
Accompanying Mr Braga were Mr Weinstein (Portuguese Embassy, London), Mr S Pinto des Mesquita (Chief of Staff), Mr Eduardo Saraiva (Press Attache), Mr Dougie Topping (OFMDFM) and Mr Mark Nelson (Visits Section - NIO).
The Mayor praised the significant contribution of the Portuguese to the local economy and the pioneer work of STEP.
The visitors met Portuguese business people, the Portuguese Mothers group, Portuguese workers, councillor Francie Molloy, Mayor of the Borough Council and community development staff from Dungannon, Cookstown and Craigavon.
Poor access to consulate
STEP coordinator, Bernadette McAliskey, discussed the difficulty Portuguese residents have gaining access to the Portuguese embassy in London. Racism and abuse of employment rights were also discussed.
Mr Braga was particularly interested in the absence of consular facilities and promised to find ways to support Portuguese school children with learning materials in their first language.
For more information
Contact Roisin Donaghy at STEP
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