International Potluck - 28/3/2026

On the 28th of March, Mullingar 4 All volunteers held an International Potluck in the Community Hub in The Barracks in Mullingar. The event was an integration event between the International Protection Applicants, Ukrainian Refugees and the local and International community residing in Mullingar and the surrounding areas. The event was kindly sponsored by the As Darragh Did Fund and Westmeath Integration (LAIT). 

Thank you to our Event Sponsors 

We had a variety of dishes, stemming from different countries such as: Nigeria, Romania, Ethiopia, USA, Ukraine, Mexico, Ireland, Japan and much more. The star attraction dish of the day was Nigerian Egusi Stew, prepared on the day by a group of Nigerian International Protection Applicants. 

Egusi is a staple food in Nigeria with roots in both Yoruba and Igbo cultures. It is a soup made out of egusi melon seeds, spinach, tomatoes, chilli peppers, bell peppers, onions, garlic, red oil and much more, served with chicken, lamb and beef with fufu and eba. The dish symbolises abundance. 

Check out the Documentary we made about Egusi

This was a special moment for the guys as they don't have cooking facilities in their accommodation, so this was the first time since moving to Ireland that they got to cook their own traditional dishes and to share it with us. The guys were very enthusiastic about cooking again, so we can't wait to taste their next dish.

It was a wonderful day overall, new friendships were made, people got to learn about the different cultures and we had wonderful music provided by Kathryn Nea. We would also like to thank the North Westmeath Ukrainian Group for letting us use the Community Hub and the Kitchen to host our event. We are looking forward to the next one and plan to have events during National Refugee Week in June. 

To support us you can donate on Buy me A Coffee - donations help with ingredients, cooking utensils and cutlery for each potluck and coffee meet up. 

This is what integration is all about, making people feel welcome, being able to cook their own traditional meals and to make new friendships. When Mullingar 4 All was set up in 2023, this is what we envisioned.