St Patrick’s Day: Irish Diaspora in the UK

Every first, second or even third-generation Irish diaspora member will know that when we hear a surname that sounds Irish, or have an inkling that someone has a bit of Irish in their background, we always set about finding out where their relatives—especially their parents or grandparents—are from, even down to the road that they lived on, in case anybody might know them. We want to check the pedigree. I will get that bit out of the way first by doing a little bit of a pedigree check on myself, for anyone who wants to know.

My mum, who was a Kelly before she married, is from Galway and my dad is a Long from Belfast. We have an interesting story about the Galway Kellys, if anyone knows the city: apparently my mum’s family had the shop and lived in the famous historical focal point there called the Spanish Arch—[Interruption.] Yes, I know! The Kellys have laid claim to that historical link for years. Anyone who was anyone was told of their claim to that important building. Then one day, while we were wandering about the Galway City Museum, we came across an old hand-written logbook, which stated the spooky fact that before the Kellys—hundreds of years before, in fact, because the Spanish Arch was built in the 1500s—a Bishop Long had lived there. That gave my dad cause to claim that the Spanish Arch was actually the ancestral home of the Longs, something he stated was further proven by the fact that the lane next to the arch, which runs along the harbour walls in Galway, is called The Long Walk. Suffice to say the Kelly relatives were not impressed at my dad’s protestations; they had always thought that The Long Walk was called that because it was a long road.

Further pedigree checks have been carried out on members of my family. My husband is a Bailey. He has no known Irish ancestry, but he still had to go through his own pedigree check when he was presented to the family many years ago. That escalated to the point that, during one family visit to Galway just before we married, everyone in the local pub that my aunt and uncle frequent had been furiously researching the Bailey family name, to check out my husband and make sure that he was all right for me to marry. Despite his having no known Irish links, they presented him with a genealogical history of the Irish surname Bailey, to prove to him that he actually had an Irish surname and therefore was Irish somewhere along the line, even if he did not know it yet. They also found him a castle allegedly owned by generations of the Bailey family, and presented him with a picture and details about it, so that he could check out whether he had any ancestral claim to it.

Joking aside, I was proud to grow up immersed in our thriving Greater Manchester Irish community. Every year, I was dispatched to the Irish centre, St Kentigern’s, Chorlton Irish Club and the Southern—you name it—to hear the music, arts and culture of my heritage. I read my mum’s copy of The Irish Post every week, which was the voice of the Irish in Britain, because it was important to know who we were and where we came from, and to foster that duty to keep our heritage alive for future generations.

The Irish community in Salford was at the heart of historical political theory and political activism. One example, Mary Burns, was a working-class woman with Irish parents, best known as the lifelong partner of Friedrich Engels. Sadly, we do not hear much about her, because they were living quite a bohemian lifestyle—living in sin was a big no-no in those days, and Engels got rid of all his personal letters to Karl Marx about Mary and himself after the latter’s death. We therefore know very little about Mary Burns, but it is said that Burns guided Engels through Salford, showing him the horrific poverty of Salford and Manchester, influencing his thinking and research, which later resulted in the well-known political work, “The Condition of the Working Class in England”.

We also lay claim to another fierce political activist in Salford: Eva Gore-Booth, the famous Salford suffragette and trade unionist, and the younger sister of Constance Markievicz. The two sisters spent their early years in Sligo, with Constance ultimately doing her thing in Ireland and Eva making her way to Salford, where she campaigned for women’s suffrage and trade unionism, and helped to set up the Manchester and Salford Women’s Trade Union Council, a precursor to the TUC we know today.

It is, however, often the less famous people who have the most evocative stories to tell. Irish in Britain has recently launched its “Look Back to Look Forward” exhibition—I urge anyone who does not get a chance to see it in person to check it out on the Irish in Britain website. The exhibition looks at the community’s journey over the last 50 years, sharing personal stories and the struggles and triumphs that have shaped each family’s history. The project was launched because many Irish immigrants who have settled in Britain since 1973 are now elderly, risking the loss of their migration memories. The project has shared those important voices to ensure that their legacies endure.

Some of those voices came to Britain to escape cultural conservatism, conflict or discrimination; others left Ireland for economic reasons. Each generation who came faced their own challenges and opportunities, from those who left home in search of a hopeful future but endured the horrific racism of the “No blacks, no Irish, no dogs” era in the late ’60s and early ’70s to those who faced less direct forms of racism during the Troubles. Many found greater freedoms and opportunities, and worked hard to build a life, businesses and a bright future for their families. Others saw the growing community and sought to build a network of support and shared cultural heritage that endures in cities and towns across the UK today. The exhibition highlights the multifaceted journey of Irish immigrants and their enduring impact on Britain. No two stories are the same, and the stories exhibited celebrate the shared heritage and contributions of the Irish diaspora.

On the issue of embracing Irish heritage, those who have it will know, as the Irish Times pointed out many years ago when finding out about Tony Blair’s Irish ancestry, that no sooner does a major world figure emerge than the Irish have him or her pegged down to their roots. Tony Blair’s grandparents were from Ballyshannon in County Donegal, and I will lay claim to a few more leading figures. Our lovely Chair today, Dame Siobhan McDonagh, has a proud Irish heritage. Two British Prime Ministers were born in Ireland: William Petty, the second Earl of Shelburne, and Arthur Wellesley, the first Duke of Wellington. Denis Healey and Jim Callaghan were both of Irish origin. The late, great Tony Lloyd and countless parliamentarians across the House have laid claim to Irish heritage, and—who knew this?—Margaret Thatcher’s great-grandmother hailed from Bonane in County Kerry.

Also in the world of politics, I was reading in Jacobin magazine that, interestingly, a disproportionate number of Britain’s trade union leaders are the sons and daughters of Irish immigrants. They include Mick Lynch of the RMT, his deputy Eddie Dempsey, Mick Whelan, general secretary of ASLEF, Sharon Graham, general secretary of Unite, and Baroness Frances O’Grady, former general secretary of the TUC. Additionally, Christina McAnea, general secretary of Unison, is the daughter of Irish immigrants to Glasgow, and Jo Grady, general secretary of the University and College Union, is the granddaughter of Irish immigrants.

The impact of the Irish diaspora on science and civil service is profound. Some of the recent winners of the Irish Government’s presidential distinguished service awards for the Irish abroad include Dr Patricia Mary Lewis, the research director for international security at Chatham House, Jocelyn Bell Burnell, the astrophysicist whose work won the Nobel prize, and Professor Teresa Lambe, one of the co-creators of the AstraZeneca vaccine. They are all from Irish backgrounds, and so too is Dr Susan Hopkins, who we saw on our TV screens during the pandemic as the chief medical adviser at the UK Health Security Agency.

In the arts we have a list of inspirational people, too. There are too many of them to mention them all today, sadly, but they include Danny Boyle, Caroline Aherne, Dusty Springfield, Elvis Costello, Boy George, the Beatles, Kate Bush, David Bowie, Cilla Black, the Sex Pistols, the Smiths, Oasis, Robbie Williams, Ed Sheeran, the Pogues, the Spice Girls, the Stone Roses, Happy Mondays, Primal Scream and Radiohead—the list is quite simply endless.

The success and impact of the diaspora on every aspect of life in the UK is profound. All that aside, it is the everyday actions of my community and communities across the UK that I am so proud of—all the achievements that the Irish and Irish diaspora have had here in the UK, and the ever-strengthening connections between Ireland and UK that are being built.

We have huge numbers of brilliant and dedicated Irish-diaspora politicians and councillors across the UK who are transforming lives within their communities. We have amazing businesses and charitable and social organisations such as Irish in Britain, Irish Community Care, Irish Heritage and the Irish World Heritage Centre in Manchester. We have Irish societies and clubs right across the UK, sports clubs, radio stations, dance and music groups, festivals and even welfare advice services. Special mention goes to The Irish Post and The Irish World, which have been keeping the Irish community in Britain connected for decades.

To everybody watching this debate, whether you are first, second or third-generation Irish or a friend of the Irish community: thank you for what you have done and for what you continue to do. As the former Irish President Higgins has said:

“The closeness and warmth that we laud today was founded to a large extent upon the lives and sacrifices of generations of Irish emigrants who settled in this country—generations of Irish people who came here and contributed so positively to nearly every aspect of British society, who did so much to make Britain what it is today while at the same time fostering understanding, tolerance and cooperation between our two countries.”

That bond goes from strength to strength today, thanks to those who continue to ensure that it endures. On Sunday, wherever you are and whoever you are celebrating with: Lá fhéile Pádraig sona daoibh—happy St Patrick’s day.

The hon. Member for Salford and Eccles mentioned the football clubs. I confess that I support the team that has had fewer Irish players in its history, City, but United has always had a significant number of Irish players and a very big Irish support contingent. Getting a plane from Dublin or Belfast to Manchester on the day of a United match is nigh-on impossible.

My links to Ireland were really cemented when I was appointed Secretary of State for Northern Ireland—SoSNI, as they say in the Northern Ireland Office. I will not pretend that it was not a shock. The late, great James Brokenshire had been doing the role, and he had done a really excellent job. I do not think it is possible to find anyone who would ever say that James Brokenshire ever did anything that was not utterly brilliant, and he was brilliant at that job, but he had just been diagnosed with lung cancer, and for his health and his family’s sake he needed to step away from the role.

At that point, I was Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. I walked into the Department in the morning planning what we were going to do for the rest of the year. It was the first day back—it was actually James’s 50th birthday, so I had been wishing him a happy birthday, and then the news came through that he was resigning and we did not know why. It suddenly dawned on me that someone was going to have to go to Northern Ireland. It never occurred to me that I would be given that role, but the then Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Maidenhead (Mrs May), invited me into the Cabinet room and—because I had been a Whip and, more importantly, had served with her in the Home Office and understood the sensitivities around the security issues—asked me if I would take on the role. It was a shock to the system, but I have to say that it was the greatest honour.

Serving in the Northern Ireland Office, as the Minister knows, is truly one of the greatest honours that one can have in this place, because of the warmth of welcome and the depth of hope and expectation that are put on the politician. There are very few roles that have that as much as Secretary of State or Minister of State for Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland is a place where politics genuinely changed lives. There are very few places where politics and politicians managed to do something as incredible as the Belfast/Good Friday agreement 26 years ago, which got the weapons laid down and ended the violence.

We all agree that there are still many problems, and some people who have never accepted the peaceful solution to the constitutional status of Northern Ireland, but the vast majority of people in Northern Ireland, Ireland and the United Kingdom accepted that that political settlement and the compromises involved in it were worth making because of the change that could happen. The two architects—the late Lord Trimble and John Hume—should be admired for their ability to put aside sectarian differences, come together and show true leadership to solve what had seemed an intractable problem. I wish there were more leaders like them around the world who could do the same thing and make that difference.

The other person I want to mention from my time in the Northern Ireland Office is Tony Lloyd, my shadow. He was a wonderful person to have shadowing me. We would occasionally have ding-dongs across the Dispatch Box; that is what politics is about, but I can assure everybody that when we got behind closed doors we got on like a house on fire. We supported different football teams—again, that Manchester difference—but we always had great conversations. If we were in Belfast at the same time and we could make it work, we would make a point of getting together with the hon. Member for Bristol South (Karin Smyth)—I will call her my hon. Friend —who was part of his team too.

We had great conversations. We wanted the same thing: we wanted the restoration of devolved government, and we wanted to work together to achieve it. We had different ways in, and different people we could influence, but we were all trying to get to the same thing. I am so relieved that we currently have devolved government in Northern Ireland, because it is vital for the people of Northern Ireland that they are properly represented by the people they elect to do so.

My constituency does not have a large Irish diaspora, but it has two great Irish employers. Advanced Proteins owns a plant that does animal rendering—it is not a terribly attractive thing to do, but it does it very well. The Irish dairy company Ornua, which brings Irish cheese and butter across the Irish sea to Leek in Staffordshire, also has a plant; Kerrygold is packaged in Leek, and all the cheese from Ireland is processed, grated, put into blocks and sold to consumers across Great Britain. I have a great need for the Irish to be successful, because they employ so many of my constituents. It is incredibly important that Ornua and Advanced Proteins know that we welcome them in the United Kingdom and we want them to continue to invest.

I have the great honour of being co-chair of the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly, following on from my hon. Friend the Member for Romford (Andrew Rosindell), who did a fantastic job for so many years—he has been missed at our meetings. For those who do not know, the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly began with the Inter-Parliamentary Union. Back in the early 1990s, there was a recognition that we had inter-parliamentary groups and there were conversations at Government level, but conversations at parliamentarian level are incredibly important in allowing people to recognise that we all face the same problems and all want the same solutions.

Before what was the British-Irish parliamentary group, there may have been a lack of trust and understanding and a lack of ability to empathise with parliamentarians on the other side of the Irish sea. The two Inter-Parliamentary Union groups—the British one, which I am honoured to chair in our Parliament, and the one from the Oireachtas—were therefore asked if they could form a grouping of parliamentarians to find a way to open up that dialogue. That was six years before the Belfast/Good Friday agreement; it was a very important part of the dialogue that created an atmosphere in which the agreement could happen.

I pay tribute to the late Lord Temple-Morris, who was one of the people who led the initiative from Westminster, and to Dick Spring from the Oireachtas. We were honoured that at a recent assembly Dick was able to address our dinner: it was lovely to hear from somebody who had not only been an architect of the agreement, but been there beforehand laying the groundwork for it.

I also pay tribute to the wonderful Amanda Healy, who has been the administrator of BIPA for 30 years. Without Amanda, the whole thing would collapse. She is utterly amazing. It would be wrong of me to say anything other than that she is absolutely fantastic—thank you, Amanda. I also thank the brilliant clerk, Martyn Atkins, who makes sure that I know what I am saying as co-chair, keeps me on track and ensures that I entirely deliver the message that needs to be delivered.

I want to quickly touch on a plenary that we held in March 2023 to mark the 25th anniversary of the 1998 agreement. It was just before St Patrick’s day because, as everybody knows, if any event is going to happen around St Patrick’s day, we can forget anybody from Ireland being there because they will all be enjoying the celebrations in Washington, Dublin, London, Chicago, Boston or all the other places that put on the most magnificent St Patrick’s day events. We had a wonderful meeting, and with the kind permission of the then Speaker, Alex Maskey, we were able to use the Stormont Assembly Chamber. It was very special because it was using a building that had not been used for many months at that point.

We were grateful to be addressed by Bertie Ahern, who was the Taoiseach at the time of the Belfast/Good Friday agreement, Sir John Holmes, who had been principal private secretary to John Major and Tony Blair, and Kate Fearon, Bronagh Hinds, Dr Avila Kilmurray and Jane Morrice, who were all members of the Women’s Coalition. That was an incredible session, because the voice of the women who had been instrumental in bringing about the agreement was so powerful and resonated with everyone who was there. Finally, Jonny Byrne from Ulster University reflected on the achievements of policing under the agreement, and the work still left to do.

In BIPA we discuss policy issues. We discuss those areas that are relevant to all of us, such as housing, tourism, sovereign matters, defence and energy provision. Reports are issued by our committees on a regular basis, which are in-depth and technical policy discussions. They are well worth reading because they touch on many aspects of our shared policy concerns, and make suggestions and recommendations for how things can be different.

I commend the work of the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly. It is a fantastic body. I have been honoured to co-chair it for the last 18 months or so. I am looking forward to our next plenary in Wicklow, which is coming up in a few weeks’ time, just after Easter. I finish by wishing everybody a happy St Patrick’s day. It is always a great opportunity to enjoy oneself; the Irish give us a real chance to have such fun with our friends.

The Irish in Britain, and the Irish-British relationship, are also a critical part of the ethos of the Good Friday agreement. Nurturing that strand 3 architecture is a really important part of our role here in Westminster, and something that we take very seriously. It is not a secret that my party and I aspire to a new agreed and reconciled Ireland. Through our New Ireland Commission we have published a set of six principles that we hope will guide that conversation over the years and decades to come. Those principles are around reconciliation and empathy, embracing diversity, and being outward-looking, hopeful and honest. The deep integration of Irish people here, and the way they cherish and entwine their Irish and their British identity, is a model, and a level of maturity, that Irish nationalism should aspire to and emulate. The Northern Irish in particular are moving on from traditional binaries and embracing the “or both” provisions of the Good Friday agreement. They feel that they do not have to choose between their Irishness and their Britishness, and I say more power to their elbow for that.

The violent years before the Good Friday agreement did drive a wedge between people in communities in Northern Ireland, obviously, but here as well and between Britain and Ireland. We are all still working hard to bridge that. But it is precisely because of those painful parts of our shared past that we really have to work to deepen and embed our friendship and neighbourliness and put that cycle of mistrust into the past. Wherever we may go in the years and decades to come, it is very clear that a confident, strong and pluralist Britain is in Ireland’s interests and vice versa.

We live in the shadow and the shelter of each other. Michael D. Higgins has rightly been quoted this afternoon. He said that through our improved relationship as equals and friends, the Irish and British can

“embrace the best versions of each other”.

The Irish in Britain do that every day, and I am really pleased to pay tribute to them, particularly because of the turbulence of the past. Go raibh maith agat, agus lá fhéile Pádraig sona daoibh go léir. Thank you, and happy St Patrick’s day everybody.