Hector in Mayo to meet Suriname man who calls Ballycastle home

Hector Ó hEochagáin is taking TG4 viewers on a whirlwind tour of Ireland meeting all the great people from overseas who now call Ireland their home.

From Brazil to the Congo, Canada to Ghana, Russia to Syria, he’s in search of answers – who they are, why they came, how they settled in and how Ireland is treating them?

These people are the changing face of Ireland. This is Hector’s ‘Éire Nua’.

In the final episode of the series this evening (Thursday, October 26, 9.30 p.m.), Hector meets Martin Naavendorp, aka Ras Tinny, from the Amazonian rainforest who now calls Mayo his home.

“I come from the Amazon and it is rough there but when it comes to storms and cold, there’s no place that I’ve experienced that is as rough as here. But then the people are warm.”

Talking to Hector on his farm in Ballycastle, Martin says about the community: “I have felt nothing but welcome here. I found my home in Mayo.”

Hector also encounters brilliant entrepreneurs such as Eva Milka, owner of Gaelic Escargot in Carlow, and the Polish bakers of K&T Bakery in Cahersiveen. He stops in for a chat in Dublin with Eden McGuinness, who shares her story of family and the kindness of a stranger that she will never forget.

Travelling to Cork, Hector meets with Izzeddeen, or Izzy for short, the owner of Izz Café. Izzy talks about the struggles he went through while trying to find refuge for himself and his family as well as the kindness they received from the community when they arrived in Cork.

As his travels come to an end, Hector has truly experienced the ‘Éire Nua’ he knew existed but needed to see for himself.