It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for St Helens North (Conor McGinn), who is a friend as well as a colleague.
I thank the hon. Member for Rochdale (Tony Lloyd) for securing this timely debate on St Patrick’s day, and I am delighted to respond. Unfortunately, I will perpetuate the stereotype. because I am second-generation Irish and my parents came from Ireland in the 1950s, my dad as a builder and my mum as a nurse. They came here not by choice but by necessity, because times were hard in Ireland. Many people left for Britain, Australia or America, and many never returned home—it was a difficult time.
Many colleagues mentioned that the welcome for the Irish in Britain was not always warm. My parents faced signs in windows refusing entry to Irish people looking for accommodation. They faced difficult, tough times. My dad, as a builder, did not benefit from the health and safety legislation and employment rights that we have today. We have a lot for which to thank the generation who went before us and who created the community here in Britain.
The community in this country takes many forms, such as the county associations that do tremendous work bringing together people from the same county. As young girls, we were all forced to go to Irish dancing lessons whether or not we were any good, and we travelled the country to take part in feises. The GAA’s Gaelic football teams join communities together, as does the traditional Irish music scene, which we missed tremendously during lockdown when we were not able to listen to traditional music in our local communities.
The hon. Member for Salford and Eccles (Rebecca Long Bailey) mentioned the work of publications such as The Irish Post and The Irish World, which I, too, was forced to read every week. I did not win many medals for Irish dancing, so my picture was rarely in The Irish Post, but we still read it every week.
Every summer holiday we made the annual pilgrimage to Ireland to catch up with grandparents, cousins, aunts and uncles. It rained a lot and we did not get much of a suntan, but we enjoyed our visits and would bring home Tayto crisps, Kimberley biscuits and Barry’s tea—other products are available—to take a bit of Ireland with us to keep those memories burning. Things have changed: Tayto crisps now come in more than one flavour. The new generation of Irish in Britain come here for very different reasons. They come not out of necessity but
out of choice, and they are able to make a positive contribution to our country in so many ways, as many hon. Members have highlighted today.
The impact and influence of Irish men and women has been woven into Britain for a very long time. My hon. Friend the Member for Bury North (James Daly) touched on the contribution of his family during the second world war, when Irish citizens served in the British armed forces. Irish citizens also helped literally to rebuild this country after the war. They built roads, railways, homes and factories to get this country back on its feet. People like my dad contributed to that and played a huge part in this country’s future.
The Irish have also made a significant contribution to art and culture, whether it is Oscar Wilde and George Bernard Shaw, as the hon. Member for Rochdale highlighted, or broadcasters such as Sir Terry Wogan on the radio and television. My favourite Bond, on Her Majesty’s secret service, was played by Pierce Brosnan.
The Irish have also contributed through sport. We have the captain of the England cricket team, and he is doing a tremendous job, but British talent has also been exported to Ireland in the shape of Jackie Charlton, who led Ireland to that famous penalty shoot-out in the 1990 World cup. As an Arsenal fan, I am ashamed to say that I did not think David O’Leary would score that penalty—we all breathed a collective sigh of relief when he did.