Irish Diaspora in Britain — House of Commons, 2022-03-17
Topic: Mixed Topics
Martin John Docherty-Hughes (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): I am grateful to be called, Leas-Cheann Comhairle—Madam Deputy Speaker—and I am grateful to the hon. Member for Rochdale (Tony Lloyd) for not only securing the debate but stealing my thunder: his Gaelic pronunciation is a wee bit better than mine. As a vice-chair of the all-party group on Ireland and the Irish in Britain, I am delighted to be here. I know that you, Madam Deputy Speaker, are also a member of the group and that you work with its chair, the hon. Member for St Helens North (Conor McGinn) As someone with probably one of the longest Irish names in history—Máirtín Seán O’Dochartaigh-Aodha—it would have been remiss of me not to have participated in this debate. I am a grandchild of Irish immigrants on my father’s side and have Irish great-grandparents on my mother’s side. Sarah Timlin—a very uncommon name in Mayo, if not in the whole of Ireland—was from Ballinglen in County Mayo, and John Doherty was from Stralongford, which is literally a big long road between Letterkenny and Convoy in County Donegal. A strange and complex family, just like the story of our heritage across these islands. Sarah and John met in Scotland and married back in County Mayo. Further back, Sarah’s big brother fell on the western front the week before the armistice was signed John’s family from Donegal—well, that is a completely different matter altogether. Let me say something about the complexity of John’s life when he came to Scotland. He was brought up by a single parent. His mother Ellen had 15 children and was designated in the 1901 census as illiterate—a stigma—because she only ever spoke Irish. Although she may have been illiterate in English, which she never spoke, she was able to bring up 15 children singlehandedly on a farm in the middle of Donegal in the early 1900s. Most of her children survived birth—unlike a lot of children at the time—and many went to the United States. I now have a lot of family around Philadelphia and in New York. Luckily for me, my relatives made their life in Clydebank I wish to say a few words about the heritage and sporting activity of the Irish diaspora not only in my community but across these islands, and specifically in Scotland. This year, the Gaelic Athletic Association celebrates 125 years of existence in Scotland. It is now based in the Clydebank community sports hub in Whitecrook, which has a rather large Irish diaspora. I was delighted that Minister Seán Fleming TD from the Dáil Eireann came from the Oireachtas yesterday to visit the GAA in Scotland, although I was sadly not able to attend myself. I am grateful that on St Patrick’s day back in 2016 the House highlighted and supported my recognition of St Patrick as a guy fae West Dunbartonshire. At least as far back as the 13th century, Jocelyn of Furness wrote in his stories of the Celtic saints about Patrick being born in what we now know was a Roman fort in the village of Old Kilpatrick, where the well was reopened in the 1930s. Sadly, it is not like Knock these days—there are not thousands of folk coming for a shrine—but Members are more than welcome to come to Old Kilpatrick and taste the waters In modern times, there is Irish heritage through the industrial revolution not only in Dumbarton but throughout the shipbuilding in Clydebank. The Twitter feed of West Dunbartonshire Arts and Heritage reminded me today that the ships the Carrowdore, the Clarecastle and the Clareisland were all built in Scots shipyards in the village of Bowling by the Guinness family, for one reason: to ship Guinness fae Dublin straight to the heart of Glasgow and across the whole of Scotland Only last week, we commemorated the 81st anniversary of the worst aerial bombardment in the history of these islands: the Clydebank blitz of March 1941. The Irish diaspora were very much part of the rebuilding of Clydebank and the fight against national socialism, which crossed all communities, even in the difficulties of the 1940s. It was a very proud moment I am mindful that in the past five years the West Dunbartonshire Council administration took the unusual but welcome step to recognise the connections between West Dunbartonshire and Letterkenny, with the signing of the first ever friendship agreement between a Scottish local authority and an Irish local authority. I was delighted to be there to welcome the then mayor of Letterkenny—who was related, which was great It is not always a great story. As the co-chair of the all-party parliamentary group on Gypsies, Travellers and Roma, I have to be mindful of the fact that for an Irish Traveller, St Patrick’s day is tinged with sadness, and of the challenges that the Irish Traveller community face across these islands in terms of their ethnicity and lived experience. I hope the Minister will take cognisance of that In summing up, let me perhaps ask a question of the Minister. It is appropriate that we mention today the complexity and history of these islands, which is an opportunity to build on the strength of diversity and for Governments across these islands to work together, as was noted in the St Andrew’s agreement. When the Minister sums up, will she give the House an idea of progress on an Irish language Act in the context of the new deal, and of opportunities to support and promote the Irish language in Northern Ireland Perhaps there is something to learn from Scotland, where the Gaelic Language (Scotland) Act was introduced in 2005 by the then Labour Administration in Holyrood and unanimously supported. My own Government in Holyrood are now bringing forward a Scots language plan to develop a guid Scots leid. There is also an opportunity when it comes to Ulster Scots. The diversity of language is a great opportunity for the whole island of Ireland and, of course, the whole of these islands, to recognise the strength of diversity in language and culture I again thank the hon. Member for Rochdale for securing this debate.