Breege McDaid
There are many unique challenges associated with emigration and emigrant communities all over the world, and the Irish diaspora’s experience is no exception.
Liverpool has a long and storied history of Irish emigration, and one local group, Irish Community Care based in Merseyside, has been working closely with this community since the 1960s. Breege McDaid, originally from Donegal, has been involved with the ICC for 37 years, since first arriving in the UK, and is now the organisation’s director.
Irish Community Care
“Our job is to make sure people are safe, make sure they are well and make sure they are connected to services and opportunities,” she says. When she started working with the ICC, McDaid explains, it was mostly about working closely with older people in the community via the Liverpool Irish Centre. She was one of the first two lay people involved, with the service previously provided by the Sisters of Charity.
Over the years, the ICC has evolved into a modern and independent registered charity. Among the wide range of supports offered by this organisation now are community support, work and training opportunities and digital inclusion.
“We want people to be as independent as possible,” McDaid says. “We spend a lot of time breaking down barriers for people, whether that be literacy challenges, digital challenges or challenges around mainstream services.” In doing so, the organisation is highlighting the many cultural nuances and particularities of the Irish experience in the north of England, including the Irish Traveller experience.
This work encourages mainstream services to take these cultural differences into account, and McDaid hopes, to make their offering a bit more flexible and supportive.
Presidential Distinguished Service Award
McDaid was awarded a Presidential Distinguished Service Award in 2018, but she is quick to acknowledge now that it is a way of recognising the work of many people, and not just her alone. This includes Tommy Walsh, a founding member of the group, and others who had the vision to establish the ICC in Liverpool in the 1960s. “They went out in cold dark nights, did voluntary work in terms of supporting people to settle well in a new country, find a job, a place to live and manage life’s challenges far from family and friends,” she says.
Volunteers also connected nationally and set up what is now Irish in Britain. “So, for me, getting this award, it wasn't about me. It was about the history and the passion and connection and the vision, both of the people who went before us, but also the team we have now.”
Many aspects of life in the north of England may have changed since the 1960s, but the ICC hopes to continue its important work with the Irish community in this area long into the future.