MARY ROBINSON AT THE IRISH COMMUNITY RECEPTION, MANCHESTER ON 17 APRIL, 1994
MARY ROBINSON AT THE IRISH COMMUNITY RECEPTION, MANCHESTER ON 17 APRIL, 1994
- The history of Irish emigration to Manchester goes back at least two centuries. The earlier emigrants came to work in the textile industry and agriculture, but the largest numbers came in the sad years following the great Famine of the mid-19th century. The Irish found work in factories and in domestic service, in labouring on the Manchester Ship Canal and in agriculture.
- The emigrants who arrived in those years were escaping terrible conditions in Ireland but, being mostly from a rural, Irish-speaking background, had to adapt to the different culture of an English city undergoing the turmoil of rapid industrialisation.
- The huge number of Irish people who came here in the 1930s and 1940s faced new challenges and, sometimes, new prejudices. They worked in a wide variety of occupations - the wartime industries of Greater Manchester, serving in the armed forces, amongst others - all the time working to improve their lot.
- The Irish have integrated well into Mancunian society and made an immense contribution to their adopted city. They are to be found in all aspects of the city's life, including the media, sport, entertainment, business, health care, education and religion.
- The Irish in Manchester, whether born in Ireland or in Britain, have a keen sense of their Irish as well as their British identity. This is clearly evident in the wealth of Irish cultural, social and educational groups active in the city. The Irish World Heritage Centre, in itself a fine representation of the strength of Irish culture within the Irish community, is, for example, one of the sponsors of Manchester's City of Drama year.
- They balance this sense of Irishness against an obvious civic pride in their adopted city. There is a significant number of Irish people prominent at City Council and local authority level in the region. The Irish are also very active in many charities in the city.
- The Irish community in Manchester and Warrington shared in the grief of their neighbours in the dreadful tragedy of the fatal bombing in Warrington last year. Equally, the Irish in Manchester were appalled by the terrorist bomb attacks on Manchester in 1992.