St Patrick’s Day and Northern Irish Affairs

Adam Jogee Excerpts

Thursday 27th March 2025 Commons Chamber

[Adam Jogee (Newcastle-under-Lyme) (Lab)]

I beg to move,

That this House has considered St Patrick’s day 2025 and Northern Irish affairs.

I am grateful to all colleagues who sponsored the debate application and to the Backbench Business Committee for granting us time on the Floor of the Chamber. The cross-party support for the debate is testament to the close bond between the UK and Ireland and the House’s acknowledgment of Northern Ireland’s place in the United Kingdom.

I refer hon. Members to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests. I serve on the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee, ably chaired by my hon. Friend the Member for Gower (Tonia Antoniazzi), and I am particularly grateful to the team of Stephen, Kay, Karen, Joe and Chloe who support the Committee’s work—they are all excellent people. I also chair the all-party parliamentary group on Ireland and the Irish in Britain.

The issues before the House this afternoon are close to my heart. As anyone who knows me will say, I have always had a great love and affinity for the good people of Northern Ireland, and indeed the Republic of Ireland, as well as what could be described as a healthy appreciation for St Patrick’s day this year and all years.

We are joined in the Gallery by former deputy mayor Councillor Liz McShane, a councillor in Folkestone and Hythe and a North Down native. We were to be joined by Mr Michael Lonergan, the political supremo at the Irish embassy, but, alas, I think he is lunching. Michael has done more for British-Irish relations in recent years than anyone else I know. We will miss him when he returns home later this year. I have not met anybody who can so easily have breakfast with the DUP, morning tea with Sinn Féin, lunch with the Liberals, afternoon tea with the Tories, pre-dinner drinks with the SDLP and the Ulster Unionists, and then dinner with Labour, and then get up and do it all again the next day.

[Dame Karen Bradley (Staffordshire Moorlands) (Con)]

I congratulate the hon. Gentleman—my almost neighbour—on securing the debate. I apologise, as I cannot contribute fully to this debate as I have to go and prepare for the next debate, but I want to join him in his tributes to Michael. I have just seen Michael in Portcullis House, so I know that he is in the building, and I am sure that he will be in the Gallery at some point soon. He has been an absolute stalwart. As vice-chair of the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly and previously its co-chair, I know just how much work Michael does to promote UK-Irish relations. We will miss him very much.

[Adam Jogee]

I am grateful to the right hon. Lady, who is a near neighbour and a former Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, both for her interest in and commitment to Northern Irish affairs and for her full and appropriate tribute to Michael. I thank her for making it.

For nations across the globe, St Patrick’s day is a day of celebration, acknowledgment and togetherness, and a day—it rather feels like a month nowadays—when the world can be described in two ways: those who are Irish and Northern Irish, and those who wished they were. The noble Lord, Lord Brennan, a man born to an Irish father and a Welsh mother, told me last night that as St David’s day is 1 March, he was not prepared to concede a month to celebrate St Patrick’s day unless it started around 8 March. I told him that as long as St George’s day is safe in April, I was happy to let the debate go on.

St Patrick’s day’s global popularity is perhaps most obvious in the city of Chicago, which famously dyes its river green every year to mark this important milestone. While I appreciate the sentiment, I am sure that we have all had enough of the rivers and lakes in our country—whether the Thames outside this place or Lough Neagh—turning the most unusual of colours.

Much of this is closer to home. I am proud of my own family roots in Northern Ireland. My late grandmother’s father was of good, solid County Down stock. I note the passing of his last remaining child, my great-aunt Margaret Wilson, who died at the grand old age of 105 last week. The blend of Irish and English is clearly a recipe for a good, long life.

My own roots parked to one side, one of the best decisions I ever made—other than being born to a good Staffordshire woman in my mother, over which I had little influence—was to marry my brilliant, wonderful wife. I had little influence in that, either—she had to say yes. My wife is a woman of and from Northern Ireland but who calls the ancient and loyal borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme home.

[Leigh Ingham (Stafford) (Lab)]

My neighbouring constituency has a small Irish community now, but for some time in the 19th century Stafford was a source of refuge to a number of Irish nationals who worked in the area. While some moved on, a significant number stayed and put down roots in Staffordshire. With that in mind, does my hon. Friend agree that the contributions of the Irish community past and present have really enriched Staffordshire’s cultural and economic life?

[Adam Jogee]

I thank my neighbour, in whose constituency my mother was born, for her timely and important intervention. I could not agree more.

Many people from the island of Ireland moved to Newcastle-under-Lyme, to Staffordshire, as my hon. Friend said, and to coalfield communities up and down our country to work in our mines and in our metal manufacturing industries, settling with their families and bringing with them a sense of culture, new ideas and, of course, great craic. But many Irish women came to England in particular to work in our national health service. I want to acknowledge Louise Ryan, who, alongside Gráinne McPolin and Neha Doshi, has written a wonderful book entitled “Irish Nurses in the NHS”, which I read over the weekend, and which gives such voice to the contribution of Irish nurses in our beloved national health service.

Many businesses and organisations in my constituency would not exist without people from the island of Ireland, and many of my constituents—some of my staff included—are proud to have strong Irish roots. I think of people like Rosi Monkman, who works at Keele University and lives in the Westlands, and my Labour predecessor, the former Member of Parliament, Paul Farrelly. I was out door-knocking in Clayton the other day when in quick succession I met Shannon, Maura, and then, of course, the wonderful Bob Bell and many more. I think of the Irish staff in this House, from Catherine Jackson, the restaurant manager, to the lovely Betty Thompson in the Terrace cafeteria downstairs: strong Irish women keeping this place going.

Irish Heritage described the contribution of the Irish to cultural life in the United Kingdom as incalculable. The cultural contribution of both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland is beyond doubt.

[Andy Slaughter (Hammersmith and Chiswick) (Lab)]

My hon. Friend is right to highlight the unique contribution that the Irish diaspora has made to cultural life in the UK. For 30 years, the Irish Cultural Centre in Hammersmith has served the population of west London and far beyond. Under its current team of centre director William Foote, culture director Ros Scanlon and chairman Peter Power-Hynes, it has gone from strength to strength in its cultural, community and education programmes. I count myself lucky as a Member with one of the largest Irish populations to represent such an outstanding venue for the best of Irish culture. My hon. Friend and, of course, all hon. Members are welcome there at all times.

[Adam Jogee]

I have been to Hammersmith’s Irish Cultural Centre many times. My hon. Friend speaks rightly of the contribution that it makes to people of Irish descent not just in London but up and down the country. There are also Irish centres in Birmingham, Manchester and other parts of the United Kingdom. He makes a good point, and I congratulate all those at that centre on the work they do.

In Northern Ireland we have great wordsmiths such as the poet Seamus Heaney, the playwright Brian Friel, and Anna Burns, the author of “Milkman”. All of them have achieved international acclaim in both the English and Irish languages. We also have musicians such as Van Morrison—although he was a little bit mean to my friend the hon. Member for South Antrim (Robin Swann), who has the pleasure of representing the community that my wife was born in and where my parents-in-law live—and, notably, the Ulster-Scots folk music movement, who have had real popularity right across the United Kingdom and indeed the world. Of course, much-loved TV shows such as Channel 4’s “Derry Girls” and even “Game of Thrones” owe Northern Ireland a great deal. Anyone who has been to Northern Ireland will have seen its natural beauty up close. It is the home of the Giant’s Causeway, the Ring of Gullion, Slieve Donard, which towers over Newcastle, County Down—an act of solidarity with God’s own constituency of Newcastle-under-Lyme.

I must also mention the island of Ireland’s contribution to one of our most beloved institutions: the great British pub. From Ballycastle to Bletchley, Coalisland to Camden, Fermanagh to Falkirk, Portballintrae in the constituency of the hon. and learned Member for North Antrim (Jim Allister) to Pembrokeshire, Templepatrick to Tyneside, Ballybeen to Golders Green and everywhere in between, who does not like a good pint? Whether it be a pint of Guinness, Guinness 0.0 or Guinness Clear—otherwise known as water—the approach and culture have deeply influenced our pubs, and we are all the better for it. Pubs across Newcastle-under-Lyme, whether it is the Westbury Tavern in Westbury Park, the Potters Wheel just up from Bradwell Lodge, the Sneyd Arms in town where I was last Saturday having a cold drink or the Hand and Trumpet in Wrinehill, pubs across my part of the world, as I know in many others, know how to pour a good pint of Guinness.

It was in Belfast shipyard and particularly at Harland & Wolff where many vessels for the Royal Navy and the merchant fleet were built, including the famous HMS Belfast. In both world wars, Irish volunteers fought in the British Army, the Royal Air Force and the Royal Navy. Men and women from across the island of Ireland helped build the earliest tunnels for the London underground, as well as more modern works, such as the Victoria line, which gets me from Euston station on a Monday morning to this place. Many Irish people continue to move to our United Kingdom to work in our national health service, education system and, more widely, our public services. I take this moment to pay tribute to them for their hard work and their contributions to our country. Does my hon. Friend want to give way?

[Henry Tufnell (Mid and South Pembrokeshire) (Lab)]

rose—

[Tom Hayes (Bournemouth East) (Lab)]

rose—

[Adam Jogee]

I will take Pembrokeshire first.

[Henry Tufnell]

As my hon. Friend knows, I represent the constituency of Mid and South Pembrokeshire, which is closer to Dublin than it is to London. Does he agree about the importance of maintaining and enhancing trade links? He will be aware of the ferry from Pembroke Dock in my constituency to the harbour of Rosslare and the importance of enhancing those trade links to achieve the Government’s mission of economic growth.

[Adam Jogee]

I congratulate my hon. Friend and his wife on the imminent arrival of their first child in the coming days. We all wish him and Poppy well.

He makes an important point. Internal trade within our United Kingdom and with our closest neighbour, the Republic of Ireland, would and does benefit all of us. The stronger that is, the better for my constituents and his.

[Tom Hayes]

I am proud to be the son of a Tipperary man and to be one of a very large Irish family who came over to the UK in the 1950s to provide an addition to our economy, tearing down some of the buildings that were bombed in the war and helping to rebuild Britain, adding to that contribution that my hon. Friend talks about, with many Irish people working in the national health service right now.

As Irish people, we know the pain and suffering of Irish football. One of my formative experiences was seeing the 1994 World cup effort, and I still have not quite recovered from that. Will my hon. Friend join me in wishing the Irish football team every success in the future and in commending 8 Sharp, an Irish and Celtic music band based in Bournemouth that provides fantastic music and cultural events across Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole?

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[Adam Jogee]

My hon. Friend is wearing the England colours, so I will happily send best wishes to the Irish football team so long as England is not on the pitch.

As we give thanks to those who made a contribution to our country, it is only right that we acknowledge John “Paddy” Hemingway, a pilot in the battle of Britain who recently passed away at the age of 105. Mr Hemingway was a volunteer who joined the RAF and flew spitfires in the battle of Britain, not because of where he was from but because of the ties, whether geographical, cultural or historic, that bind us together. Those values, now shared, are more important than ever.

Mr Hemingway was one of 36 Irish pilots who fought in the battle of Britain, including Wing Commander Brendan “Paddy” Finucane, who was one of the RAF’s most successful fighter aces in the war. They are a reminder to us that Britain did not stand alone against fascism as it rose on the European continent throughout the war. Despite our often complicated shared history, it is a shared history none the less; one that has seen the fates of all the people who live across these islands, whether in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland or in the Republic of Ireland, bound together time and again.

It would not be right to ignore the history of these islands in a debate such as this. Nobody wants to dwell on the past; we must be honest, though, that war, death and division played a significant role in the story of British-Irish relations. How lucky are we, however, that times have changed? Northern Ireland, for all its political imperfections—who are we to pass comment on other people’s jurisdictions, politically speaking—now has a functioning devolved Government led by the First Minister, Michelle O’Neill, and the Deputy First Minister, Emma Little-Pengelly. It has access to the UK internal market and to the European Union. It is on the tourist hit list and has made history.

I want to acknowledge the very strong women from both Unionist and nationalist traditions who politically have shown real leadership. I think of my hon. Friend the Member for Belfast South and Mid Down (Claire Hanna), Baroness Ritchie and Lady Hermon, formerly of this parish, alongside the former First Minister, Baroness Foster. I know that my mother-in-law, if she were watching—she may be—would be very clear that you should never mess with a woman from anywhere on the island of Ireland.

Political relations between Ireland and the United Kingdom have never been stronger, and that was evident in Dublin earlier this week, where the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee met a range of stakeholders, from former President Mary McAleese and her husband, Dr Martin McAleese, to former Taoisigh Leo Varadkar and Bertie Ahern. It was clear that ties east and west between Dublin and London are better and stronger, and my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister deserves much praise for his commitment to the British-Irish relationship, including hosting the first Saint Patrick’s day reception at Downing Street just last week. As we talk about British-Irish relations, I acknowledge the British ambassador in Dublin, Paul Johnston, and his wife Nicola. Paul will return home later this year as his posting comes to an end and it is only fitting that the House acknowledges his service to our national interest.

Today’s debate is not about the constitution or borders, or just to discuss the party political nature of, and situation in, Northern Ireland. However, we cannot forget one of the greatest political developments in our shared history: the Good Friday agreement. A peace deal like no other, it remains the gold standard in diplomacy and one of the most significant peace processes in modern European history. After those terrible decades of tragedy and conflict, we now have peace on these islands because all sides came together, they compromised and they negotiated. There lies a lesson for all of us.

As the Prime Minister said on his first visit to Dublin since the election, the relationship between our two countries

“has never reached its full potential”.

It is time to unlock that potential. This new era of co-operation and friendship is all the more critical at a time when we must stand together with our closest allies who share our values.

I will quote Mr Hemingway on what he feels is his secret to achieving a long life; a secret I think my wife and some of the Members of this House might enjoy. He said:

“I can’t say don’t drink…I can’t say don’t fly aeroplanes. I can’t say don’t shoot and get shot at – I’ve done everything, and I’m an Irishman. The only advice I can give is to be Irish.”

In this case, I think we can apply “Northern Irish”, “British” and everything in between too.

Since my election as the Member of Parliament for Newcastle-under-Lyme, I have made clear my personal affection for the royal family and particularly for Her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. On her first historic visit to the Republic of Ireland, at the state banquet in Dublin castle, she began her speech with the words “A Uachtaráin, agus a chairde”—President and friends. The British head of state standing in Dublin speaking words in Irish showed how much times had changed. Her late Majesty went on to say:

“Many British families have members who live in this country, as many Irish families have close relatives in the United Kingdom. These families share the two islands; they have visited each other and have come home to each other over the years.

They are the ordinary people who yearned for the peace and understanding we now have between our two nations and between the communities within those two nations; a living testament to how much in common we have.

These ties of family, friendship and affection are our most precious resource. They are the lifeblood of the partnership across these islands, a golden thread that runs through all our joint successes so far, and all we will go on to achieve.”

For all the challenges that remain, for all that we have yet to do, “family, friendship and affection”, as Her late Majesty put it, will see us through. Happy Saint Patrick’s day, Madam Deputy Speaker. Here’s to Northern Ireland and to the bonds of friendship between the Republic of Ireland and our United Kingdom.

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[Adam Jogee]

indicated assent.

[Seamus Logan]

I endorse the hon. Gentleman’s remarks and pay tribute to all the embassy staff here in London.

I rise as a proud Irishman to speak in this debate celebrating the life and legacy of the late fourth or fifth-century man we know as St Patrick. But be aware that there may have been a number of people from the so-called dark ages who might have at least contributed to the legacy we now know. There is absolutely no doubt that it was Irish monks and missionaries who throughout that period kept Christianity alive, spread the good news and taught so much to so many through early versions of what we now call universities.

The efforts of St Patrick’s disciples, maybe contemporaries, are felt to this day. Columba and Drostan had such an influence in Scotland, and my own church is named for St Drostan, while another local church celebrates Columba. Members will have heard of the book of Kells, but they may not have heard of the book of Deer—a handwritten copy of the Gospels written a little later. It is now in Cambridge University library, but it was written in the north-east of Scotland in a local village. I was raised within sight of the slopes of Slemish in County Antrim where, according to his own account, Patrick spent six years as a shepherd having been kidnapped by Irish pirates. They allegedly came from Dalriada, a Scottish kingdom ruled by the McDonnell clan.

There is much uncertainty about where Patrick was born. Was he Roman? Was he Welsh? Who knows and, to be honest, does it really matter? Patrick apparently escaped back home, and years later, now as a cleric, dreamt that the people of Ireland were calling him to return and walk among them. There are many stories about his life in Ireland. The one that always appealed to me was how he broke the law by lighting a pyre on the slopes of the Hill of Tara in County Meath—a privilege reserved to the high king of Tara at the time, as a fire on that spot could be seen for many miles and many counties across Ireland. But so impressed was said king by St Patrick that he allegedly converted on the spot.

Patrick is credited with teaching Christianity to the Irish people using the shamrock, with fasting for 40 days on top of Croagh Patrick in County Mayo, thus earning the right to judge the Irish at the end of time on the day of judgment. I think the hon. Member for Newcastle-under-Lyme may well have secured his future.

Patrick’s legacy requires little acknowledgment from me other than to credit the eloquent speeches of other hon. Members speaking today, so in my brief contribution I will recall some personal St Patrick’s day memories from the past 67 years. It was always a day on which one was released from the usual Lenten pledges, so as children we fogged the chocolate and sweets into us so hard that we almost made ourselves sick. Later, it became a day on which we would make the pilgrimage to Dublin, not necessarily for the St Patrick’s day parade but for the all-Ireland club championship finals in football and hurling, which were played at Croke Park. I am pleased to say that my own local hurling team, the Cuchullains of Dunloy, contested that final on no fewer than five occasions; an amazing feat for a small village in north Antrim.

On other occasions I attended the schools’ rugby cup final at Ravenhill—a tradition still carried on to this day on St Patrick’s day, so for me, as Father Ted would have said, that would be an ecumenical matter. There are many other memorable moments on this day, but a special one was sitting in a bar in Bariloche in Argentina listening on the radio to a live performance by my singer-songwriter daughter Aislinn at the London Irish Centre in Camden several thousand miles away.

I say to hon. Members: let us recognise and celebrate the life, legend and legacy of the man, or men, we call St Patrick—not least because it means so much to the more than half a million people who said in the last census that they were Irish and living on this island.

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[Jim Allister (North Antrim) (TUV)]

Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. Since this debate is not just about St Patrick’s day but about Northern Ireland affairs, I am surprised that I am the only Member of the House from Northern Ireland participating in it. That is a pretty poor situation.

[Adam Jogee]

I gently put it to the hon. and learned Member that he ought to correct himself slightly. The hon. Member for Aberdeenshire North and Moray East (Seamus Logan) is also from Northern Ireland. A number of colleagues who represent Northern Irish constituencies have sent apologies for having had to go home, no doubt to tend to their constituents. I put it on the record that they have made that point.

[Madam Deputy Speaker]

I know that the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) is in Westminster Hall this very minute. He has double-booked himself, as he would.

--- Later in debate ---

[Adam Jogi]

I am grateful to all colleagues who have taken part in this debate. I thank my hon. Friends the Members for Mid and South Pembrokeshire (Henry Tufnell), for Hammersmith and Chiswick (Andy Slaughter) and for Stafford (Leigh Ingham) and the right hon. Member for Staffordshire Moorlands (Dame Karen Bradley) for their interventions.

I am grateful to the hon. and learned Member for North Antrim (Jim Allister) for taking part. I am sorry that he did not like my speech. I have not been called “fuzzy” or “bleary-eyed”, but I have been called warm, so I shall take that. He gave a speech very much in the spirit in which he tends to speak, and I am sure his colleagues up at Stormont miss him very much indeed.

I pay tribute to the hon. Member for Aberdeenshire North and Moray East (Seamus Logan), who gave a very good speech. He shared some stories, and I suspect there are a few more that we will hear some other time. My hon. Friend the Member for Luton South and South Bedfordshire (Rachel Hopkins) showed herself to be the tenacious champion that we know she is for the Irish community in her constituency.

The hon. Member for Romford (Andrew Rosindell) ought not to do away with his inner Irishness—blood is thicker than water. He made a very strong case for the restoration of the order of St Patrick, and auditioned very well to be one of its first recipients. My father shares a birthday with him on 17 March, so we will be friends. My hon. Friend the Member for Brent East (Dawn Butler) made a very good speech sharing the story of the Irish in her part of the world. She did say—I have written it down—“Brent is where it’s at,” but I do not think she has yet been to Newcastle-under-Lyme.

I thank the shadow Minister, the hon. Member for Broadland and Fakenham (Jerome Mayhew), for his contribution and for putting a target on my back, which is a great way to get my colleagues on this side of the Chamber to be my friends. I thank him none the less, and I pay tribute to his late father, who was of course Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. I thank the Minister for her remarks; I also thank the Liberal Democrats spokesperson, the hon. Member for Chelmsford (Marie Goldman), who perhaps merged two speeches from this week in her contribution, which we welcome none the less.

This has been an excellent debate. I look forward to all hon. Members coming together for a similar one in March 2026, as we celebrate Northern Ireland and the relationship between our United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland.

Question put and agreed to.

Resolved,

That this House has considered St Patrick’s day and Northern Irish affairs.