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Periscope by Niall O'Dowd

The Irish are back in London

Posted on Thursday, November 04, 2010 at 06:56 AM

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Even the taxi drivers know the Irish are coming back to London.

Several times during a trip there last week they asked me if I was relocating, saying they have had lots of pick-ups from the airport of Irish people who were.

London remains one of the first stops for potential emigrants, and with the Irish economy on the slide there is no doubt that many are indeed arriving.

I worked in London in the early 1970s for a year and found it a very depressing place to be Irish at that time.
With IRA bombing campaigns going on, it was clear there was an unspoken antipathy to the Irish, understandable in many ways.

That, thankfully, is now gone, hopefully forever.

However, the length of The Troubles meant that the Irish community in London was never able to step out front in the way it did in America.

They were, rather, the equivalents of the Germans in America who kept low profiles after the two World Wars. But that has now changed.

Not for the first time London has become a safety valve for Irish social problems. But the Irish coming now are encountering a much better welcome.

The powers-that-be in Ireland are probably glad to see them leave, despite platitudes to the contrary.
The Irish unemployed might get shirty and start protesting, a la France and Greece, but if they are on a Ryanair flight to London they won’t get that opportunity.

I visited Kilburn High Road, and the new Irish presence is definitely being felt.

This patch of North London has always been the equivalent of the Bronx for Irish first coming to America, a first port of call. And with the Irish sailing again, Kilburn on a Saturday night looks like it is booming.

The faces are all young. The stories are familiar and would be to any generation of Irish.

The brief Irish boom has been followed by a thundering bust, and from Malahide to Mayo the siren call of emigration once more is heard.

The Irish Post newspaper, which has been the bastion of the Irish community since 1970, is reflecting those new changes too.

The Post is a remarkable newspaper.

Its founder, the late great, Brendan Mac Lua, stood up for the Irish during the worst of The Troubles. And his newspaper became a powerful voice in cases such as the Birmingham Six and the Guildford Four, miscarriages of justice against innocent Irish that were widely condemned.

Current news editor Siobhan Breathnach says the impact of Mac Lua has lasted. There will be a census in Britain which for the first time will ask the question about Irish ethnicity -- a pet project of the Post.

It will be fascinating, not just for the numbers of Irish-born but also the numbers who are British who relate to their Irish ancestry.

While it will not be as large, percentage wise, as Americans who claim Irish ancestry, it will provide an invaluable insight into how the Irish influence has lasted down the generations of the British.

There are obvious examples – rock star Shane MacGowan and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who credited his Irish grandmother, from Co. Donegal, with much of his empathy for the issue.

But there are millions of others too, who will now have the opportunity to state their claim to a heritage that was long hidden.

It will make for very interesting reading.

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35 comments

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kurtjohnson | Nov 21, 2010, 12:11 AM EST

Because the Irish national identity is something real in contrast to the contrived and forced "british" identity. There are real nations which are captive to the british terror state but their identities have been long repressed.

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ancavker | Nov 18, 2010, 02:47 PM EST

Dr Trel: Than how do you explain all the Irish Centres and clubs all over Britain, not to mention the huge interest in Irish culture shown by so many of those born in Britain of Irish descent?

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kurtjohnson | Nov 14, 2010, 12:18 AM EST

The problems in Ireland are the result of the importaton of degenerate anglo materialist doctrines (in addition to the northern occupation and other post-colonial issues). One of the toxic by-products was mass consumerism and grossly excessive debt levels/leverage resulting in the instant crisis. @Towngoon Scare quotes notwithstanding, the totality of your post (in this ugly but efficient creole language in which we're communicating) suggest that your terror state was somehow charitable in allowing the flow of cheap labor. I certainly do not believe the continued exportation of Irish talent to be a laughing matter - particularly when Irish politicians engaged in their own cheap labor importation schemes to facilitate their plans for industrial estate Ireland.

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DrTrelawney | Nov 13, 2010, 04:35 PM EST

People of Irish descent have been just as influential -- probably more so -- in the United Kingdom than they have in the US. We just don't know as much about their ethnicity, because they don't feel the need to drone on about it.

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sirpeter | Nov 13, 2010, 05:55 AM EST

@Mr Towngate,Due to the fact that you have gone to the trouble to explain yourself more clearly,I will grant you more respect then i did in my last post and i will concede that you did not use the term "Paddy's Navy" in a derogatory way.I don't like the use of the term Paddy in relation to the Irish people,be it in song or any use in relation to the Irish people as it is often used in a derogatory manner especially when used by the British. Your post is intertwined with the ordinary british people and british government policy towards Ireland,they are two different entities,you have assimilated with the British people and that’s grand,I have no problem with ordinary English people either. But you are mistaken if you think English government policy in letting the Irish into England was an act of kindness, it was NOT!!this is the kind of naivety,that I try to correct.

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sirpeter | Nov 13, 2010, 05:55 AM EST

The English Government has always been disingenuous towards Ireland and if you study the peace process you will find that ,far from been helpful,they put obstacle upon obstacle in the way of peace in Northern Ireland.It took powerful Irish/Americans and a few other’s to push the English Government forwards and it also took a bomb in canary wharf,to get them to understand,that they had better take responsibility for what they created.So make no mistake about it our “old enemies” are still our enemy and until I see a change,then we can live in peace and friendship.My history lesson might be a mystery lesson to you,but nothing I said was incorrect and nor did you correct me on the matter. Shakespeare was a fine writer in that I agree,but have you read any Irish literature? Ireland has made a disproportionately large contribution to world literature in all its branches,and what about Irish literature Os Gaeilge,have you read any?If you took the time to read it,you might find it is equally beautiful and as a fluent Irish speaker I have found it to be superior.I find it sad that you would call English the most beautiful language in the world,when I get the feeling you have nothing to measure it by .

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ancavker | Nov 12, 2010, 01:50 PM EST

towngate: Maybe they need to stop flocking, and start fixing.

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killowen | Nov 12, 2010, 12:33 PM EST

occupiers - mother's control will be there as long as she has sons and daughters across the breath of usa and commonwealth.

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Dublinjas | Nov 11, 2010, 09:57 PM EST

Spent the 70s in Kilburn and pubs like the olde bell biddy mulligans and even the Crown up in Cricklewood etc , best years of my life..And with the Fake Economy Fake Growth Fake Asylum Seekers Fake Refugees Fake Budgets and Fake Job Creation not to mention Fake Government in Ireland the Irish better start to familiarize themselves with Kilburn again.. I think they will get to know London quite Well and aren't they lucky they have somewhere to run too.

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Towngate | Nov 11, 2010, 05:09 AM EST

I am glad you are amused but for the poor Irish talent flocking to the 'Terror State' it is far from funny!

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Towngate | Nov 11, 2010, 05:05 AM EST

Sorry typo - that's: "Niall's article",of course!

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Towngate | Nov 11, 2010, 05:02 AM EST

Thanks@Germanviking?(below).You add a new dimension to 'naivety' by failing to comprehend the nuances of our chosen language by my use of inverted commas on 'kindness' and worst of all - you ignore Neill's article altogether:- which points out the irony that Irish workers are yet again seeking refuge in the Capital city of(your)'Terror State'. YOU might think this tragic event is comical from where you are standing - but for the disillusioned young Irish talent flocking to the sea and air ports - it is FAR from funny!

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kurtjohnson | Nov 10, 2010, 10:07 PM EST

Towngate you're comically naive about that terror state of yours - kindness had nothing to do with it but the need for cheap labor.

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Towngate | Nov 09, 2010, 05:52 PM EST

Oh dear oh Lord! Sirpeter, before resting my case and finally closing the Towngate on you, I will try to put you out of your misery as humanely as I can: My post of Nov4 was a response Niell's fine article on the unfortunate Irish having to seek refuge in London again. My thrust was that they would be well recieved now, as my family was in the late 50's., and remarking that if the British had been vindictive to the Irish for 'throwing them out', it could have been a very different story. And because of this 'kindness' it is my desire as an assimilated immigrant to see the old 'enemies' friendly and at peace. .............. Your 'history lesson' is a "Mystery Lesson" as every single point you make is incorrect! ... Shakespeare:the finest writer in the most beautiful language in the world asked "What's in a name?" I like to think Towngate represents a portal through which everyone passing in or out is enriched. A welcoming symbol to the weary traveller offering protection and sanctuary and a bastion against ignorance and danger. By the way "Paddy's Navy" is not a derogatory term - quite the opposite. It is the title of a worderful song about the heartbreak of tearing yourself away from something you love very much and is an appropriate term to use in relation to Niell's article. "A chill wind blows across the sea from the land where I must go! - The salt-spray on my tear-stained face as I watch the ship's lights glow. For soon I'll leave my native home to work in a foreign land. I'm joining 'Paddy's Navy! I've become an Emigrant. Sirpeter. millions shed these tears and now mock them. How DARE you!

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sirpeter | Nov 09, 2010, 11:33 AM EST

Do you think so Towngate,as i said meaningless surnames..Are you a wooden Towngate? or an Iron Towngate?Just because i put you in your place for licking the arse off the Brits and in general knowing very little about Ireland,the fact old man that you have no come back argument,tells me you're just another half-Irish who took the Queens shilling without one thought as to why your parents were in despair in the first place and why that was.You remind me of that derogatory term house nig*er during slavery days..Oh my English massa..he good massa..he give me good job..he treat me just fine, if i be a good Paddy and stay away from all those bad Paddies in Kilburn Irish Ghetto.Fact is Towngate at heart you're an Irish snob with an English mind,who uses derogatory words like" Paddy's Navy " At least most Irish/Americans are proud of their roots and where they come from.You and your turncoat English loving mind have always been the first to betray the Irish people.And i'll tell you what's AMAZING..You don't even know it.

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