Fermanagh-born Sr Majella McCarron, who belongs to the Sisters of Our Lady of Apostles, spent 30 years in Nigeria, and recalls the warmth of the people there. "There was a great sense of hospitality, and there was a great appreciation for the value of the person.
From very small children, they see a great gift in the human person - it is to be developed and nurtured and brought to its very best potential."
Asked about the African communities in Ireland, Sr McCarron said the way forward is to forgo efforts to "study each other from across a table.
"I would suggest that people work on projects together, and projects that they have a passion about . . . because in their intense pursuit of their respective goals, colour, nationality and ethnicity just fade away."
Fr Brian Moore, parish priest at St Peter's Church in Phibsboro, Dublin, worked in Nigeria for 16 years. "My principal memory of Nigeria was the hospitality and the warmth of the people, especially a people that were able to communicate and express such joy in the midst of difficulties."
Fr Michael Nohilly, parish priest at St Aloysius parish in Breaffy, Co Mayo, spent 18 years in Ghana. "I found the people very friendly, very receptive. And I also received a lot from them. It wasn't just I, bringing something to them only. I received a lot in return about a good outlook on life."
Fr Moore says: " We probably equate poverty in terms of income, whereas the African person has a huge wealth in terms of community, in terms of family and extended family."