In the Footsteps of Irish Emigrants The Irish Chaplaincy in Britain enjoyed a hugely successful fundraising walk along the historic Greenway route in County Mayo, Ireland on 23rd August 2011.
A team of over twenty staff, volunteers and friends walked along the route. Raising awareness about the work of the Chaplaincy was as important as the fundraising. Over £3,000 raised so the fundraising was also a success.
The walking route traces the route of the histories Newport to Mulrany railroad, which carried many emigrants from the West of Ireland to their new lives around the World.
Director of the Irish Chaplaincy Philomena Cullen said :
“I would like to thank all of those who took part in the walk, and those who sponsored someone taking part, the event was a huge success, helping us to raise awareness of the work with we do with vulnerable Irish emigrants.”
July 2011
ICB announce the departure of their Director, Dr Philomena Cullen. PRESS RELEASE
In the Footsteps of Emigrants - Forthcoming event, 23rd August 2011, Mayo. PRESS RELEASE
Dale farm evictions coverage on ITV East Anglia (includes some of our staff members protesting the evictions) - View ITV Coverage
Let us know how you feel about the Dale Farm evictions. Email us
March 2011
20th Anniversary of release of the Birmingham Six ICB marks the 20th Anniversary of the release of the Birmingham Six but highlights the ongoing concerns about inadequacy of post-release support for ex-prisoners. The Irish World - article
Bruce Kent Becomes First Patron of ICB
The Irish Chaplaincy in Britain (ICB) have announced that Bruce Kent, a leading Catholic Human rights advocate and founder of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament has become a patron of the charity.
Kent, who is a former Catholic priest, has a long history of campaigning on human rights issues. He has been chair of the anti-poverty organisation, War on Want, in addition to his past roles as General Secretary and Chairman of CND, and where he is currently still Vice President.
The Irish Chaplaincy in Britain run three projects, helping vulnerable members of Irish community through their Irish Council for Prisoners overseas, The Irish Older Person's Project and The Irish Travellers research project. The ICB worked with over one thousand vulnerable members of the Irish Community in Britain in 2010.
Accepting the invitation to become a patron, Bruce Kent said: "I am delighted to accept the offer to become a Patron of the Irish Chaplaincy, it means a lot to me as my family roots are in Silvermines in Co Tipperary, from where my family emigrated initially to Canada."
Chair of the Board of Trustees at the ICB, John Walsh, welcomed Mr Kent as a patron and said: "As a well-known and respected Catholic, we know that Bruce's support for our charity will lend credibility and support to our cause of journeying in hope with our vulnerable Irish emigrants today. This is the first time that we have approached anyone in the public sphere to ask them to consider becoming a patron for us, and we hope that with Bruce's help , we can better galvanise the wider Irish community to work together to ensure that no member of our community is forgotten."
February 2011
The Irish Chaplaincy in Britain (ICB) has claimed St Brigid as its patron saint on this, her feast day (1st February). Fr Gerry McFlynn from the ICB said:
“The choice is well made. Brigid of Kildare (“Mary of the Gael”) may have lived in the fifth century, but she was a woman well ahead of her time. Far from being a figure consigned to folklore, she emerges as someone who has much to say to us today about such contemporary concerns and issues as work for peace and justice, equality, care for the earth, as well as being a model for a contemplative life.”
How Irish are you? The Irish Chaplaincy is celebrating Irishness in the build up to the Census later this year on March 27th 2011. We're supporting the FIS campaign which is reaching out to 1st, 2nd, 3rd and later generations of Irish to encourage them to register their Irish roots and heritage (ethnicity) in the Census. The Irish in Britain have made, and continue to make, an enormous contribution to UK society. Ticking the Irish ethnicity box makes this contribution more visible and will help plan for the future needs of the Irish in Britain.
Guildford 4 survivor, and former ICPO client, Gerry Conlan, presents the ICPO achievement award to Gareth Peirce, a leading human rights lawyer, at the ICPO's annual mass and Hooley. Describing the contribution of Gareth to the cause of Human Rights in Britain, Gerry said:
“In 1986 I had a letter from Sister Sarah Clarke urging me to get legal representation because of the inquiries into our case. I had dismissed my solicitors after my appeal failed in 1977, when, in effect, the Guildford Four had been cleared but were still sent back to prison. It was only out of respect for Sister Sarah that I agreed to see a solicitor who she believed would help me. That solicitor turned out to be Gareth Peirce, and when I met her in late 1986, there was something about her and the way she spoke that immediately made me want to believe and trust her. By the end of that first visit - and it was a short visit - I had asked her to represent me. Thank God, she agreed. People often ask me to speak about Gareth and I usually say that I could talk about her for hours. I believe people will be talking about her in a hundred years' time. She is without doubt the leading human rights lawyer of the past forty years, a champion of all who suffer injustice in whatever form it takes. She is the most remarkable woman I have ever met and it has been my privilege to have worked with her and to call her my friend. “
ICPO Celebrates its 25th Landmark Year
The ICB beat the terrible weather conditions to celebrate the 25th anniversary of their prisoner project, ICPO, with a mass and traditional music night at the Camden Irish Centre on 3rd December.
The long planned and much anticipated night was almost ruined by the weather when the headline act, Trad legends, Altan, had to cancel their performance due to being unable to fly over from Ireland because of the snow.
But showing the sort of resilience and ‘never give up’ spirit which has helped them through the past quarter of a century working with some of the most vulnerable Irish people in custody in Britain, staff at the organisation moved quickly to recruit the acclaimed London Lasses with Pete Quinn, to perform at the anniversary celebrations instead.
The Chair of Trustees of the ICB, John Walsh, said:
“We are so grateful to all our supporters who turned out on one of the coldest nights of the year to help us fundraise so that we can continue to offer support to Irish prisoners and their families. The London Lasses with Pete Quinn produced a fine performance for the large crowd and so we still managed to have our hooley to celebrate the ICPO’s 25th anniversary, even in spite of the elements”.
As with any anniversary there was also time for reflection on past achievements of ICPO. Gareth Peirce, the famed Human Rights solicitor, who worked to secure the freedom of the innocent Guildford 4 and Birmingham 6 defendants, was at the event and was presented with the ICPO Achievement Award, to thank her for her work among the Irish community.
Presenting the award was a former client of the ICPO, Guildford 4 member, Gerry Conlan, who also spoke at the event.
He drew parallels between the plight of the Muslim community in Britain today and the discrimination against the Irish community suffered in the 70s and 80s, when to be Irish, was to be part of a suspect community. He reminded the crowd that: “An injustice suffered by one is an injustice suffered by all”.
Today, the ICPO estimates there are approximately 1000 Irish people in prison across England and Wales. The Irish are now the second largest group of foreign nationals in the prison system. The ICPO provides a prison visiting and casework service to these, and in the last year worked with 588 Irish prisoners. “Sean” a current client of ICPO wrote about this service:
“I don’t have a family, so the visit you made gave me a sense of belonging and, although I may be alone, I now know that there are people on the outside who do care about me. Honest to God, that is making me look at my life a lot differently”.
Seamus Hegarty, Bishop of Derry, and patron of ICB, said: “The work of ICPO offers an important form of institutional witness to the gospel. Its vision is rooted in Biblical teaching ‘He has sent me to announce good news to the poor, to proclaim release for prisoners’. It is an expression of the commitment of Catholic social teaching and action. One inspiring trait of the Irish chaplaincy is the ability to relate with, and support those, that couldn’t find a foothold in their new society”.
The night also saw the launch of the ICB’s first ever “Cairde”/Friends scheme, which involves asking people to support the work of the charity on a regular basis by direct debit giving. The ICB Director, Philomena Cullen said:
“In these tough economic times, we increasingly rely on the generosity of our individual donors to maintain our existing services to vulnerable Irish emigrants. All giving, large and small, really does make a difference. Just £5 per month could provide an Irish prisoner with phone credit so that they can continue to be in touch with their families who, living in Ireland, are often unable to visit. This is important because we know that re-offending rates drop dramatically when prisoners maintain their family ties.”
If you would like to become a Cairde or Friend of the ICB then you can do this online by registering on this website or by telephoning Declan on 0207 4825528.
September 2010
ICB Calls for an End to Travellers Evictions inEssex
On Tuesday 7th September, the eviction of seven Traveller families began at the Hovefields site in Essex. At eight in the morning bailiffs Constant & Co, accompanied by police, arrived at the site and began telling families to leave their homes. The bailiffs occupied a pitch at the site, which they made a base for their operations, and then proceeded to bring in diggers to smash plots of ground, preventing later re-entry.
Many individuals attended the eviction as legal observers and monitors of human rights and health and safety. They documented the eviction, and identified numerous breaches of international human rights law, including the failure to pr ovide alternative housing, the disruption to children's education, and the failure to keep heavy machinery within the safety perimeter. There were no authorized government representatives present and bailiffs and police refused to facilitate legal observers' access to the site. When these issues were brought up with the police overseeing the eviction process, they refused to respond, maintaining that they were there to prevent breaches of the peace by those resisting eviction, no matter the legality of the operation itself.
Two supporters were arrested early in the day, and a seventy-two year old man, John Lee, had his nose fractured after his face was smashed into his caravan before legal observers arrived. At the end of the day, one pitch had been bulldozed, and three families had left the site. The other four families whose pitches are being evicted stayed, though the bailiffs had already cut off access to electricity and water for the majority of the site. The families who left the Hovefields site went to a nearby unoccupied site that had previously been earmarked by the national government as a potential resettlement area; but this move was refused by Basildon Council, eager to chase the Traveller community out of Essex. Police arrived at 9 this morning with a 3 hour ultimatum for the families to move on. The eviction is likely to be ongoing through this week.
Dale Farm (Essex), the biggest Travellers community, is next under threat (it's going to happen within the next 3 weeks) and it's the same bailiff company involved. They see Hovefields as a dry run for what is going to be the biggest eviction in British history.
Please watch the video made by our volunteer Elisabeth Blanchet who documents the events of the day.
June 2010
ICB take part in Gypsy Roma Traveller History Month Celebrations
June marked the 4th Gypsy Roma Traveller History Month. Amongst the many diverse celebrations were two special events held in Highdown and Bullingdon prisons attended by ICB’s Father Joe Browne and Conn Mac Gabhann from the Traveller project. Full story...
April 2010
‘The Last Acceptable Prejudice,’ Travellers in Prison Research Project Launched by ICB
The launch of the Travellers in Prison Project took place on Friday 30th April at the Irish Chaplaincy in Britain (ICB) headquarters in Camden, North London. The project has been developed to investigate the situation of Irish Travellers in prisons in England and Wales. The launch was attended by the First Secretary to the Irish Embassy in Britain, representatives of the Traveller community, prison chaplains, a number of senior academics and other interested professionals who will steer the research project to successful completion. Full story...
March 2011
Irish President hears of Irish prisoners’ plight
President Mary McAleese sent a message of support to all those working with Irish prisoners and their families during a recent meeting with representatives of the Irish Council for Prisoners Overseas (ICPO), an ICB project. Full story...
November 2009
ICB's Holy Irish Hooley Fundraising Event was a big success.
Thursday 19th November 2009, saw the McNamara Hall at the London Irish Centre in Camden packed to capacity as 300 Irish Chaplaincy supporters, young and old, gathered to raise funds for the charity. The event was billed as a “Holy Irish Hooley”, beginning with a reflective mass of remembrance and culminating in a night of ceili dancing and performances, which will be remembered for some time. Read the full story here.
August 2009
Going Home - ICB Celebrate a Resettlement Success in their Older Person's Project
An Enniskillen man who was living a lonely and isolated life in a flat in South London, returned to Ireland at the end of August 2009 to settle back in the area he left some forty years ago. He was reunited with his family, thanks to the efforts of the Irish Chaplaincy in Britain. Full story...
July 2009
Tea Dance Helps Older Irish Celebrate Their Culture
Over eighty older Irish people gathered together to share their faith, exchange stories and enjoy a range of traditional Irish music, song and theatre, at a mass and tea dance at the London Irish centre, organised by the Irish Chaplaincy in Britain (ICB). “It was absolutely gorgeous from beginning to end and I enjoyed it so much”, said Pat Matchan. Full story...
Tombola Stall at the Southwark Irish Festival
April 2009
Art Competition launched for Irish prisoners by ICPO
ICPO have launched their first ever art competition for Irish prisoners. Entries are welcome from all Irish prisoners and can take the form of drawings, paintings, sculptures, graphic designs, crafts. Full details...
