THE IRISH Government has issued £4.8 million in funding this year to Irish charities in Britain that continue to support the elderly and most vulnerable members of society.
The allocation is a slight decrease on last year’s Emigrant Support Programme (ESP) grants, which totalled £5.1million.
Jimmy Deenihan, Ireland’s Minister for the Diaspora, announced details of the Emigrant Support Programme at the Irish Embassy this week.
Speaking in London, Mr Deenihan said that he had had the pleasure of visiting many of the organisations that were represented at the event.
“It has been a great privilege to see first-hand the tremendous work that is being done and the profound impact that your services have on our emigrants in Britain,” he said.
He went on to thank the community groups for their contribution to the creation of Ireland’s new Diaspora Policy and for their participation in the first ever Global Irish Civic Forum held in Dublin last June.
“Without exception, I’m told by every organisation I meet that volunteers are the backbone of the work they do,” he said. “This is a true reflection of the Irish meitheal tradition where a community comes together to help one another.
“In my first year as Minister for the Diaspora I’ve been able to tick a lot of boxes, and this is crucial at this stage from your point of view. I’ve been privileged to witness firsthand the work at the centres for the Irish community.
“The generosity of the Irish knows no bounds, you welcome other communities into your own, and all I have nothing but praise for the Irish hospitality.”
This year’s allocation supports 110 organisations in Britain, with the focus being on frontline welfare service providers that support the elderly and other vulnerable Irish emigrants.
Paul Curtis, Chair of the Nottingham St Patrick’s Day Parade and Festival said that whilst their £5,000 allocation would fund their school’s project, which enables children to participate in the festival, the organisation would still need to rely on community fundraising.
“We’re very pleased with the funding we’ve been allocated, without it the schools can’t participate in the parade,” he said.
“But the problem of rising costs and maintained levels of funding means that we’ll still need to rely on contributions from the community to help with holding events.”
The London Irish LGBT Society, which was established last year, secured a grant of £3,000 for the first time.
Anne O’Donoghue, Co-Chair of the society, believes that this signifies a major step forward for the capital’s Irish LGBT population in light of Ireland’s marriage equality referendum earlier this year.
“It’s absolutely fantastic,” she said. “It’s been a momentous year and the grant allocation is hugely encouraging. We plan to use the funding to continue building our network of both the old and young Irish LGBT community.”
Joe Browne, Chair of the Traveller Movement, welcomed their £120,000 allocation, a £25,000 reduction on the previous year.
“The Embassy funding is the backbone of all of our sources of funding, it’s really crucial to the running of our organisation,” he said. “If major cuts were to be made we’d really suffer and it’d be staff cuts that would result.”
| Acton Homeless Concern Emmaus House and The Damien Centre | £30,000 |
| Age UK Hillingdon | £12,500 |
| The Aisling Project | £95,000 |
| Ashford Place | £142,000 |
| Bell Farm Christian Centre | £10,500 |
| Benefit Advice Shop | £3,500 |
| Birmingham Irish Association | £197,000 |
| Blackfriars Advice Centre | £10,000 |
| Bolton Irish Community Association | £5,000 |
| Brent Adolescent Centre | £18,000 |
| Brent Irish Advisory Service | £115,500 |
| Brian Boru Club | £19,000 |
| Causeway Irish Housing Association | £15,000 |
| Celtic and Irish Cultural Society | £13,500 |
| The Connection at St Martin-in-the-Fields | £15,000 |
| Conradh na Gaeilge Glaschú | £36,150 |
| Console Suicide Prevention Ltd | £30,000 |
| Coventry Irish Society | £60,500 |
| Edinburgh's Festival of Ireland | £2,000 |
| The Emerald Centre | £53,000 |
| Emerald Circle Club - Harrow | £3,000 |
| Emerald Senior Citizens Group | £5,000 |
| Feith an Cheoil | £4,500 |
| Friends, Families and Travellers | £25,000 |
| The Golden Shamrock | £8,500 |
| The Greenwich Irish Pensioners Association | £3,500 |
| Halifax and District Irish Society | £7,500 |
| Halifax Irish Centre | £1,000 |
| Haringey Irish Centre | £135,500 |
| Haslingden Davitt IDL Club | £4,000 |
| Hibernian Society, The | £22,000 |
| Huddersfield Irish Centre | £3,500 |
| The Huddersfield St Patrick's Day Parade Assoc. | £4,300 |
| IIBN Ltd | £26,000 |
| Immigrant Counselling and Psychotherapy | £142,000 |
| Innisfree Housing Association | £15,000 |
| Irish Arts Foundation | £63,000 |
| Irish Network Scotland | £1,000 |
| Irish Chaplaincy | £220,000 |
| Irish Club Warrington | £4,600 |
| Irish Community Care Manchester | £120,918 |
| Irish Community Care Merseyside | £232,300 |
| Irish Community Services | £211,000 |
| Irish Cultural Centre | £126,500 |
| Irish Diaspora Foundation | £59,000 |
| Irish Elderly Advice Network | £94,000 |
| Irish Film London | £5,000 |
| Irish Heritage Foundation | £50,000 |
| Irish Heritage Limited | £6,500 |
| Irish in Britain | £405,000 |
| Irish Literary Society | £1,800 |
| Irish Music and Dance in London (IMDL) | £9,500 |
| Irish Network Stevenage | £990 |
| Irish Pensioners Choir | £2,000 |
| Irish Pensioners Forum of East London | £4,000 |
| Irish Repertory Theatre Co UK | £8,000 |
| Irish Tuesday Club | £8,000 |
| Kilburn Irish Pensioners Club | £2,000 |
| Lancashire Federation of Irish Democratic League | £1,000 |
| Leeds GATE | £43,000 |
| Leeds Horseshoe Throwers | £900 |
| Leeds Irish Health & Homes | £121,000 |
| Leeds St Patrick's Day Parade & Celebrations | £9,000 |
| Leicester & Leicestershire Irish Forum | £25,000 |
| Lewisham Irish Community Centre | £52,000 |
| Lewisham Irish Pensioners Association | £4,000 |
| Liverpool Irish Festival | £10,000 |
| London Gypsy and Traveller Unit | £89,500 |
| London Irish Amateur Rugby Football Club | £6,500 |
| London Irish Centre | £429,000 |
| London Irish LGBT Network | £3,000 |
| Luton Irish Forum | £94,500 |
| Manchester Irish Education Group | £1,000 |
| Manchester Irish Language Group | £500 |
| Mansfield & Dukeries Irish Association | £6,000 |
| Maya Centre, The | £15,000 |
| Milton Keynes Irish Centre | £11,000 |
| Mind Yourself | £50,000 |
| Momentum Care | £30,000 |
| Monica's Place | £58,600 |
| New Horizon Youth Centre | £35,000 |
| NOAH Enterprise | £65,000 |
| North Wales Irish Society | £4,000 |
| Northampton Irish Support Group | £48,000 |
| Nottingham St Patrick's Day Festival and Parade | £5,000 |
| Oxford Irish Society | £3,000 |
| Passage, The | £35,000 |
| Queens Park Senior Citizens Group | £4,000 |
| Safe Start Foundation | £80,000 |
| Sandwell Irish Society | £30,500 |
| SanKTus | £24,000 |
| Sheffield Irish Association | £2,000 |
| SIFA Fireside | £15,000 |
| Solace Women's Aid | £35,000 |
| South London Irish Association | £3,000 |
| Southwark Irish Pensioners Project | £127,500 |
| Southwark Travellers' Action Group | £53,500 |
| St Michael's Irish Centre | £45,500 |
| St Patrick's Festival Birmingham | £8,000 |
| St. Finbarr's Sports and Social Club | £5,000 |
| Streetwork UK | £22,000 |
| Traveller Movement, The | £120,000 |
| Tricycle Theatre Company Limited | £1,000 |
| Trip to Birmingham Tradfest Ltd. | £3,000 |
| Tuesday Club - Leeds Irish Centre | £3,000 |
| Tyneside Irish Centre LTD | £14,000 |
| Tyneside Irish Cultural Society Ltd | £32,000 |
| West Hampstead Women's Centre | £6,000 |
| York Irish Association | £3,000 |
| Young at Hearts Luncheon Club | £6,000 |
| TOTAL | £4,827,058 |
Photos - Malcolm McNally
