No. 227 NAI DFA/6/402/22
Memorandum by the Department of External Affairs
'Problems arising in connection with Irish workers in Britain'
Dublin, November 1953
- A request that the Taoiseach accord a personal interview to two delegates from the Birmingham Committee of the European Youth Campaign has been received by the Ambassador at London and transmitted to the Department. The purpose of the interview sought is to present to the Taoiseach a petition, organised in Birmingham, seeking financial aid from the Irish Government for a project to set up a welfare centre in Birmingham.
- Copies of the project have been furnished for advance information. Briefly the project provides for the setting up of a centre in Birmingham the purpose of which is stated to be ‘to assist the Irish immigrant workers in solving the many social problems with which they are faced’. It is proposed that the centre should be staffed by a whole-time male executive experienced in welfare work, and a shorthand-typist; there would be a voluntary part-time executive committee drawn from Catholic organisations in that city. It is anticipated that a premises would be required consisting of two or three rooms as offices with possibly a number of extra rooms for emergency accommodation. The estimated cost for the first two years is put at £5,000. The Committee is of opinion that after the first two years the project would be self-supporting. The Committee suggest that the Irish Government might ‘provide a substantial part of this finance’.
- The delegates nominated by the Committee to present the petition to the Taoiseach are Mr. Maurice Foley and a Mr. Colm Bradley. Mr. Foley has been associated for a number of years with the Young Christian Workers Association which is a Catholic Organisation for social work enjoying considerable repute in Britain. In August, 1951, he prepared a comprehensive report on the conditions of Irish workers in Birmingham. That report was passed to the Taoiseach by the Minister for External Affairs, and was subsequently the subject of a discussion between the Taoiseach and Ambassador Boland. In accordance with the Taoiseach’s directions, following that discussion, the Embassy at London made formal representations on the 28th August to the British Authorities referring to the objectionable and degrading conditions under which Irish workers were forced to live in Birmingham owing to the acute shortage of accommodation, and requesting the British Authorities to have the attention of the appropriate national and local authorities drawn to the matter.
- The Taoiseach on the 29th of August, 1951 made a public statement in Galway on the matter based largely on Mr. Foley’s report.1 Considerable Press publicity ensued both in this country and in Britain. On the 30th August, 1951, in view of certain Press criticisms, the Taoiseach issued a statement through the Government Information Bureau to the effect that his earlier statement had been made with due deliberation and had been based on a report which he regarded as trust worthy.
- The question as to whether further representations should be made by the Embassy to the British Authorities was considered. In a minute of 1st September, 1951, the Taoiseach’s Department stated that, in view of the publicity that had been given to the matter, which should be sufficient to ensure that attention would be given to it by the British Government, no further representations to that Government were called for at the moment.
- In May, 1952, at the request of the Department of the Taoiseach the Secretary enquired from the Ambassador at London whether anything had been done or could at that stage be done to improve the living conditions of Irish workers in Britain and particularly in Birmingham. The Ambassador intimated that his information was that while conditions had improved somewhat they were still very unsatisfactory, but that, in view of the great increase in unemployment, that was not the time to endeavour to bring public opinion to bear on the matter with a view to improving conditions, as doing so might bring unfavourable reactions. On the 29th of January, 1953, the Ambassador submitted a comprehensive report on a visit which he had made to Birmingham on the 27th January.2 He reported that a great change had come over the local environment. Owing to the lack of export orders many of the large firms in the area were only working part-time. The unemployment and under-employment in these firms had affected the employment position in concerns not directly engaged in the export trade. For example, the Municipal Transport Services which twelve or eighteen months earlier had been scouring Ireland for conductresses had, in January, 1953, a long waiting list of applicants for jobs. This development had completely altered the position as regards Irish workers in the Birmingham area. According to the Ambassador’s informant, Father Connellan, Secretary of the Birmingham United Irish Societies, a great number of Irish people previously employed in Birmingham had left and gone elsewhere. The inflow from Ireland had fallen to relatively insignificant proportions. The accommodation position was in consequence much easier. Father Connellan had said that he had now quite reputable landladies coming and asking him whether he knew of any Irishmen looking for accommodation. This information concerning unemployment in Birmingham was confirmed by an Article on the 16th of February, 1953, on the front page of the Manchester Guardian. A report on this Article was submitted by the Ambassador on the 16th of February, 1953.3 Copies of the Ambassador’s reports were sent to the Department of the Taoiseach.
- The present application for financial assistance to establish a welfare centre in the Birmingham area is similar to a more extensive proposal submitted in 1950 in respect of the London area. That proposal, which was submitted with the approval of the Bishop of Southwark, by a Committee known as the Irish Priests Committee, London, was for the setting up in London of an Irish centre to care for the cultural, social and to some extent economic and spiritual needs of Irish men and women in London. The London Committee suggested that the Irish Government should contribute approximately £10,000 towards the capital cost of the project, and should pay or at least contribute towards the cost of a full-time social worker for the centre.
- The London proposal was raised by the Bishop of Southwark with the then Taoiseach, Mr. Costello, following a conversation between the Taoiseach and Cardinal Griffin.4 Subsequently the Taoiseach had some discussion with the Archbishop of Dublin,5 and in May the Taoiseach marked the file ‘no further action’ in anticipation of the matter being further discussed with the Archbishop in the course of normal contact with the Archbishop. So far as the Department of External Affairs files show there was no further development on that aspect of the matter. The proposal was however examined by the Ambassador and by the Department, and a number of objections were noted which apply with equal force to the similar proposal now made in respect of the Birmingham area. These objections are, briefly, that the centres would cater only for the Irish in the immediate locality, and no good reason could be adduced why such provision could be made in one area and not at the same time in many other areas throughout Great Britain. If the Irish Government were to contribute, the provision of funds on a large scale would be involved because of the large number of such centres which would be called for. There was no guarantee that large scale expenditure of this nature would in the end be justified by the results obtained. In addition, there was the question whether schemes which aimed so predominantly at the important object of spiritual welfare would be properly supported by a grant from State funds. In this connection it should be noted that a letter, received by the then Taoiseach Mr. Costello, from the Archbishop of Dublin in connection with the London proposal implied an objection on the Archbishop’s part to any such centre being open to all denominations.
- The problems arising from the large scale emigration to Britain of Irish persons, particularly of young Irish girls, have been under consideration in the Department of External Affairs for a considerable time. The Taoiseach recently requested the Department of External Affairs in consultation with other Departments concerned to examine proposals in this matter which had been put to him by a branch of the Catholic Women’s League in Britain. As it was apparent that there was wide divergences of views between the Departments concerned, arrangements are being made for the convening of an Inter-Departmental conference to see if these views can be reconciled to permit of any positive recommendation being made to the Government in the matter. Necessary documentation has been circulated, and it is hoped to convene the conference at an early date.
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