None of these problems are new to Onyejelem, but the time he has to do them just got shorter. Metro Eireann, Ireland's multicultural newspaper, has gone weekly and so there is a growing urgency about the Nigerian-born journalist. Added to the pressure of new weekly deadlines is the stress of changing offices. For the third time in six years, Metro Eireann is moving home, this time to North Fredrick Street in Dublin.

The constantly changing surroundings of Metro Eireann are apt given the primary focus of the newspaper . . . the ever-increasing numbers of ethnic minorities living in Ireland. The fact that Metro Eireann has decided to quadruple its output by switching from monthly publication to weekly is a sign not only of the excellent standards of the newspaper itself, but is reflective of the increased demand for its unique content.

In an age when sections of newspapers, and even publications of certain Irish sports clubs, are being printed in Polish, Metro Eireann has led the way in providing news sources aimed directly at the growing numbers of non-Irish living in this country. Since the newspaper was launched in late 2000, it has highlighted issues that affect the newest members of Irish society.

When Onyejelem arrived in Ireland back in 1997, even he could not have envisaged the need for a weekly newspaper aimed at nonIrish living in Ireland. He laughs now when he remembers being the only black face on the plane flying into Dublin and the wonderment his African features caused on the streets of Dublin as the early cubs of the Celtic Tiger looked on at this most rare of rarities . . . a black man in Dublin.

"I was used to going to new places because even when I lived in Nigeria I would try to travel, " he says. "But when you are travelling in Nigeria or in one of the surrounding countries you are seeing mostly black faces. It was completely different in Ireland. I remember being on the flight to Ireland and I was the only black person on the flight. That was very strange for me but it was a very positive experience. Back then you didn't see very many black people in Dublin, whereas now you can't walk anywhere without seeing a black person."

It was a situation that he was initially not wholly comfortable with. After one day in Dublin, he says, he wanted to leave for Britain, but he had an Irish visa and not a British one, so he stayed.

"People would generally want to talk to me, " he says of people's reaction to him. "They would want to find out where I came from and what I was doing in Ireland, but only because they were interested.

I remember one man asking me whether we drank tea in Nigeria . . .

I don't think there is a place in the world where people don't drink tea! That helped me understand that people actually don't know anything about your life in the country you have come from."

Onyejelem had dipped his fingers in a few different pies in Nigeria, but journalism always held out a strong interest for him. He remembers as a child pestering editors of local newspapers with letters, but he had also done his fair share of serious journalistic work in Africa.

However, the sometimes excruciatingly insular mindset of Irish media was not fertile ground for a Nigerian journalist looking for a fresh start. The Irish Times gave Onyejelem some freelance shifts but they were irregular and not sufficient for survival.

It was after writing a piece for the Irish Catholic that Onyejelem would earn a break of sorts in the Irish media. David Quinn, then editor of the Irish Catholic, liked Onyejelem's writing style and, while he could not offer him a writer's job in the publication, he arranged for Onyejelem to join the newspaper's advertisement team.

After being offered some night shifts on Ireland. com, Onyejelem soon found himself working two jobs. It was around this time that the idea for a dedicated newspaper for migrants began to take shape. "The idea for Metro Eireann came firstly because I wanted employment for myself, but above all because I wanted to provide a channel for Irish people to communicate with ethnic minorities, for ethnic minorities to communicate with Irish people and for ethnic minorities to communicate with themselves, " he says. "That was the basis for setting up Metro Eireann."

From late 1999, Onyejelem planned the launch of what would become Ireland's first dedicated multicultural newspaper. Initially, he had hoped it would be a notfor-profit venture, but funding from charities and NGOs was not forthcoming. Eventually, he secured a 2,000 business loan and, coupled with his personal savings, the first edition of Metro Eireann hit the streets in October 2000.

The target audience was, of course, migrants looking to adapt to life in his new and strange country. However, Metro Eireann was never about separating non-Irish and Irish communities, he says.

"We are concentrating on multicultural Ireland . . . and that means firstly ethnic minorities, secondly their supporters and thirdly the wider community, " says Onyejelem. "We believe that through Metro Eireann, ethnic minorities will learn more about Ireland and also more about themselves because they do not all come from the same place. You have Nigerians, Romanians, Polish, people from all over the world, and so they have to learn about themselves. We also believe the wider Irish general public will learn about ethnic minorities through Metro Eireann."

Ironically, the newspaper attracts not only pro-immigration readers. According to Onyejelem, anti-immigrant groups also buy the newspaper in order to look for nuggets of information that they can use against refugees and asylum seekers. He describes this as "interesting", with a wry smile.

While Metro Eireann has grown, so too has the community that it seeks to serve. With over 400,000 non-Irish now living in Ireland, migrants make up 10% of the national population, a statistic that would have seemed impossible back when Onyejelem landed in Dublin nine years ago.

When the number of asylum seekers looking to gain permanent status in Ireland peaked a few years ago, Irish society was forced to examine itself and its attitude towards the country's new residents. The results were not always pretty, with widespread commenting that Irish society was becoming alarmingly racist.

As the years have passed, however, the communities have learned to live side-by-side. Onyejelem cites the house-rental market as proof that Irish people have learned to accept ethnic minorities . . . he recently conducted a poll of property owners and found that very few displayed negativity when confronted by a Nigerian man looking to rent their apartments.

"That would not have happened five years ago, " he says. "It was very, very hard back then. Maybe it is because people are worried about paying their mortgage and don't care about who they rent to anymore, maybe it is a sign of the economy. I don't know, but overall things have improved. Integration is happening. It is possible that that is only because the economy is still buoyant, I don't know what will happen if there is an economic crisis, but generally we can comfortably say that things have moved on."

An apparent decline in racist attacks is further proof of this, he says, as is the number of non-Irish now moving into professional jobs, as opposed to the menial jobs they were initially employed in.

Overall, he says, the Irish media is responsible in how it reports on race-related issues. However, the media still denies members of ethnic minorities one thing . . . access.

This is particularly pronounced in radio, he says: "Ethnic minorities want a voice and I don't think there is a radio station in this country that has given them one."

Two years ago, Metro Eireann, with the backing of The Irish Times and Denis O'Brien, pitched for a national radio license. The 'Global FM' consortium planned to launch a radio station focused on migrant issues . . . essentially, the radio version of Metro Eireann.

The 2004 application was not successful, but it is an area Onyejelem is keen to revisit. Before he can become a migrant Tony O'Reilly, however, Onyejelem has to focus on making the new weekly Metro Eireann a success.

Priced at 1, Metro Eireann sells 10,000 to 15,000 copies per issue, which is a sizeable number for a newspaper that many doubted would find a place in the crowded newspaper market. It is currently available in Dublin, Cork and Galway. "In terms of circulation, in two years time we would want over 15,000 paid readers, " he says.

"Thereafter, we hope to increase the content. We have a minimum of 32 pages every week now, so we want to maintain that and then build on it. We are working on a number of new sections, such as housing and jobs, so we will introduce them over time".

The newspaper now has a fulltime staff of 11, together with an impressive list of columnists and contributors. Some editors of national newspapers would look over a list of columnists that includes Brian Kerr and Roddy Doyle with a hint of envy. Add to that the likes of Simon Coveney, Conor Lenihan and Brody Sweeney and it is clear the paper is seen as an important communication vehicle for politicians.

"We have had people from lots of countries writing for us, " he says. "Over time there will be more job opportunities for people from all over the world because I believe that everybody has something to contribute."