St Patrick’s Day and Northern Irish Affairs

Leigh Ingham Excerpts

Thursday 27th March 2025 Commons Chamber

[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.