Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

In my role as Minister of State with responsibility for the diaspora and international development, I have been committed to maintaining strong relationships between Ireland and the communities of Irish emigrants and people of Irish heritage abroad. We cannot talk about our diaspora without recognising our extraordinary history of emigration, including in particular those who moved to the UK seeking to build a new life for themselves across the Irish Sea. Throughout history, Irish women and men have travelled in their hundreds of thousands to Britain to work, to learn, to teach and, in particular, to lead. From the Irish navvies who built the industrial infrastructure of London, Manchester and Glasgow to the many Irish nurses, doctors, teachers and business professionals who make their home in Britain every year, Irish emigrants have made, and will continue to make, a singular contribution to British society.

We estimate that today more than 430,000 people who were born in this State are resident in Great Britain while very many more British people possess some measure of Irish heritage. As a result of this great movement of people between our islands, thankfully our two societies remain closely linked through robust connections of kinship, culture and commerce. It is particularly interesting to note that the number of Irish directors in UK boardrooms has increased to a record number of more than 60,000 which is the largest grouping of non-British nationals on UK company boards. That is the level and extent of the business relationship between our two communities.

Modern communications, technology and social media have transformed the ways in which we interact with our relations and friends in Britain on a daily basis, dramatically reducing the distance that we feel between us.

One way in which the Government fosters those extraordinarily strong links with the Irish community in Great Britain is through our emigrant support programme, ESP. The ESP was established in 2004 to provide funding support to Irish organisations overseas and many of these organisations provide invaluable welfare support to the most vulnerable within those Irish emigrant communities, particularly the elderly. The ESP also supports cultural and sporting organisations which serve to maintain and strengthen those Irish community connections to Ireland and to promote Irish culture abroad.

Britain has represented one of the most important destinations of funds from the ESP since its inception. In 2018, more than €5.9 million in funding was awarded to 108 different Irish community organisations in Britain, 88% of which, or almost €5 million, was devoted exclusively to welfare support. As many established Irish communities in Britain are aging, the welfare assistance provided under the ESP is becoming increasingly important. The organisations which receive that funding represent a vital lifeline to disadvantaged Irish emigrants by facilitating their access to local services and combatting social isolation and alienation.

Over the past number of years, other major investment from Ireland into Irish communities in Britain has included £200,000 towards the redevelopment of the Ruislip GAA clubhouse. My colleague, the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Deputy Madigan, and I recently announced the award of £1 million towards the redevelopment of the London Irish Centre which has been an extraordinary focal point for the Irish community in London for decades.

We look forward to seeing the outcome of that investment in the near future. This funding represents a significant increase on previous years’ funding. A total of €5.3 million was awarded to institutions in Britain in 2017 with €5.5 million awarded in 2016. Brexit is not going to alter the Government's commitment to our emigrant communities in Britain. Irish organisations in Britain will continue to be eligible for funding under the emigrant support programme. As the resources to this programme are increasing with an extra €1 million in funding secured for the coming year, I expect an even greater number of these organisations will benefit from this funding and support.

The common travel area between Ireland and Britain will remain in place regardless of the outcome of the Brexit process. The rights of Irish citizens to reside in Britain, to access British welfare services, to vote in British elections and to move freely and seamlessly between our two islands will be completely unaffected by Brexit. British nationals residing in Ireland will also, thankfully, retain their current rights. In recent years, we have seen increasing numbers of British people reconnecting formally with their Irish heritage through application for Irish passports and foreign birth registrations. We hope that for many of these individuals this represents the beginning of a new and deeper connection with Ireland. We fondly welcome our new fellow citizens.

Brexit will not attenuate the deep and meaningful bonds which have been developed between the peoples of our two islands over the centuries. We will remain as closely entwined together, as closely reliant on each other, in family and in friendship as we have in the past.

See this speech in context