Ireland's Forgotten Generation - RTE One documentary London Irish Homelessness

2001(?) RTE one documentary about the Irish who had emigrated to London in the 50s/60s/70s in the search of work and the troubles that befell them. Many of these emigrants ended up marginalised by society and some became alcohol dependent with little or no recourse to return to Ireland. Feature Brian Cowan (whilst Minister for Foreign Affairs - Ireland - Fianna Fail) and John McDonell (UK - Labour MP). Sections also include Cricklewood, Camden Town, Arlington House. Uploaded for historical purpose (we had on video tape and have converted to MP4).

[@roger_melly5025]

Unfortunately alcohol probably plays a big part in these stories. I found myself homeless after the break-up of my marriage which occurred at the same time as the 2008 recession. I had to leave Ireland and haven't returned since. I have since lived in some dodgy places. These stories are so sad.

[@jimmieoakland3843]

My grandparents generation immigrated to the US from Ireland, and most of them prospered. Some of them didn't, like these men. I used to see the same type of guys in Irish bars in San Francisco, and had one great uncle who ended up pretty rough. They were good, hard working men, but often with no education nor the ability to adapt. We all know people like this, sometimes family members, who may need a little extra help and encouragement. But without family around, it's really tough, especially as you get old.

[@MichaelOBrien71]

Same with mine they came to Chicago

[@MichaelOBrien71]

I should say my mom and dad did

[@joepower1368]

😮

[@patrickglennon7058]

Geary blvd and irelands 32, one of the world's great cities, worked with the plasterers Union there for 3 years. A unique city.

[@kevos65]

I lived and worked in England in the early 80s and early 90s..the pub culture was a very easy trap to fall into when you were young and felt invincible..but for a lot of people it was a case of being one paycheck from the street..thankfully i got out but i had near misses..plenty didn't. Im back in Ireland 30 years this year and life is good but I don't forget those days..the good and the not so good..great credit to the good people that try to help the forgotten..they're good people

[@garryfitzgerald6233]

Excellent doc, good people. Deadly alcohol.

[@michaelcox7633]

God bless these Irish men, they went to London in search of better times. May God bless them and protect them.

[@Frawls42]

How old is this documentary? It’s not just the drink but the fact that after so many years being away from Ireland, there was nary a friend or relation left to return to. I’m sure they had the boat fare in their kick many times to go home. Just no one left in Ireland for them to visit.

[@user-tz8kz1cl3i]

Thinn it’s around 2001

[@user-tz8kz1cl3i]

Think *

[@mjh5437]

Irish families were huge in those days because they were so old-fashioned religious they were still hung up about contraception,they had plenty of relatives to go to

[@thewolfenburger8843]

They had family in Ireland but no work to go back to

[@Frawls42]

I have circled back to this documentary after 2 years and wondered where these men are today. I understand the reasons why these men haven’t returned to Ireland but think the time has come that the Irish government get seriously involved in opening their arms and resources to bringing these men back to Ireland. The current Irish government is taking money from the EU to give welfare and accommodations all over Ireland to non Irish migrants and refugees yet appear to do very little to help the Irish born men and women like the ones depicted here. If I was an elected Irish politician, I would be asking why the government have turned their backs on their own kind and continue the virtue signaling to the world that Ireland is fashionably helpful to other emigrants to Ireland.

[@lythalls]

Why should the Irish taxpayer support an Irish community that lives in a foreign country ? These people worked in the UK , primarily ENGLAND paid their taxes , paid their NI , paid their dues .. the BRITISH GOVERNMENT should help these people .

[@noelmaher4633]

The Subcontractors were Irish and rarely paid on time, the Englishman always paid on Friday. Me and my extended family all did very well in the UK. Families raised and educated, housed and in employment. Alot of Irish I met in London that emigrated in 60/70s never made any attempt to integrate, their own, usually publicans and landlords kept them impoverished..

[@johnjohns8166]

I spent a short time on building sites in London. I worked for a contractor called Mulvaney. Mulvaney paid £21 a day for labourers. It was nothing but abuse. I left London for USA and never worked in London again.

[@tommitchell1826]

spot on mate worked in London in the 80's always was treated by English contractors better.its a Irish thing they love to take advantage off people you ask any eastern European people who came to Ireland during the boom

[@scoyle1750]

Poor men I feel sorry for them as I am a Irish man who works in England difference is I keep my money and my self out of the pubs and bring my money home every fortnight and spend it on my kids and missus and house in beautiful Ireland bollicks to England its no place for a irishman but there's money to be made there👍🇮🇪

[@aaroni5074]

What city are you working in bud what is it like?

[@scoyle1750]

@@aaroni5074 South East where the money is

[@scoyle1750]

@Big Wints South East

[@dannykelly7159]

Fond of the queens head then paddy

[@scoyle1750]

@@dannykelly7159 I am fond of taking money out of that shite house and putting it into Irelands economy and don't be calling me paddy you dosser

[@simonyip5978]

A lot of the comments give the impression that the Irish are hated in England, that might have been true in the 70's when the Troubles were happening, but not really true now. Maybe the Irish travellers are not liked by many British people but the average Irish person probably doesn't have much trouble nowadays.

[@linleysmith4528]

Why don't Coventry council look after these houses and fix them up it's their responsibility they should be ashamed of letting this man live in these conditions or just condemn the houses

[@tiakore7524]

Is there not more than 1 Irish generation 'forgotten' as they like putting it? There is a housing association in London called Innisfree supposedly for Irish. They are giving housing to refugees and migrants.

[@cody8513]

im irish and have been with innisfree for 10 years. they house at least 80% irish. they can only do so much. they have been great tbh. im open to talk

[@mjh5437]

@@cody8513 So you`re happy to be a scrounger forever anyway.

[@lythalls]

Which shows the generosity of the Irish people rich or poor they’ll help unlike some we can talk about.

[@adrianmadden]

Thank God, I never ever drank in my life. What a fucking waste.

[@dylantierney6407]

Interesting video. Alcohol is a dangerous drug.

[@user-tz8kz1cl3i]

True that

[@davidschley8773]

These men fell on desperate unfortunate hard times , they worked hard, lost friends, no union no , union pension paid into, unlike usa or ireland , no help no safety net , Maggie privatised everything , go to a coal mining town you will get similar stories , its just that they were at home and did not have London rents to pay . They moved country and rolled the dice and felt they had no where to go .

[@lythalls]

@@davidschley8773They also had a lot of vultures whether they were Irish or English taking financial advantage of these young men …..they deserved better.

[@jimbobjimjim6500]

England on its own is about twice the size of the Republic of Ireland, but when you get there it seems like 20 times the size of the Rep of Ireland, there is so many people and big cities.

[@Del-yv1qy]

Brian Cowen is a disgraceful individual.

[@paulgreen1821]

BIFFO

[@1Lansing1]

When I went back to college.. pre med.. The anatomy and physiology teacher and chemistry teacher would implore the young students to not go drinking on the weekends as alcohol is a poison.. Years ago, I quit drinking and was educated that I was an ACA, Adult Child of Alcoholic parents, I tried to break the cycle but my brother killed himself on Vodka and last year my son 39 killed himself on Vodka and Fentynal. My son grew up with his mother who's family used alcohol too. Let's get honest! Now I hang around my church group or AA friends. You are who you hang around...

[@johnjohns8166]

Few care, mate, if their friends are alcoholics. Also, success is given and nobody owes anyone a living in life.

[@silverfields4091]

Sad story god rest your sons soul and brother 🙏🙏

[@hara3435]

yes you are 100% correct ! sorry for your troubles 🙏

[@MichaelHeery]

AA IS THE WAY..

[@MichaelHeery]

Dependence on alcohol is same in MOST of IRELAND single men usually..

[@snowedman2993]

Blame the state for the dirty rooms Yet

[@finoladerwin1570]

LOTS OF GUYS COME OVER FROM IRELAND in 80s thire had jobs .some of them was very heavy drinkrs

[@davidschley8773]

And 99.9% of the hardest drinkers, were the hardest toughest workers that worked in all weathers . Blood sweat and tears . They would do more work in one hour than the putting in the hours careful boys would do in a week . There for the grace of God go I

[@davidschley8773]

Yes 99% of hard drinkers were the hardest workers real grafters and done more in one hour than the clock watchers done in a week I was proud to work with these kind of men . And they all knew how hard it was to get out there in all weathers and take any job, in order to pay their way , and I never looked down on these poor lads here in this program except Brian Cowarddd whom paid the English banks 700million on interest alone to bail them out , and he's talking about pocket money from 50k in the 80s to 1.5 million and were refused and was cut , And plus all them leeches talking rubbish , when these ordinary lads, you can see who's more human , they still have a sense of humour after all their horrors of depression, after tragedy and accidents , They took the crap and they ... paved the way for a job... when we landed there, people knew one thing ...if your Irish you will work hard , when they travelled home and told everyone, there's jobs over there , that is where they spent their holiday money three or four times a year , when there was not too many jobs in Ireland .

[@lythalls]

@@davidschley8773Great comment…never a truer word …….from a child of Irish migrants👍

[@MrKieran48]

I'm Irish and I live in England where did ye find these people most Irish people that I know have done well for them selves

[@cody8513]

pure ignorance

[@jimbobjimjim6500]

The men were found in the missing part of your soul.

[@opinionday0079]

To be honest I'm not sure how the Irish government can be responsible for all the people that leave Ireland an end up in difficulty

[@lythalls]

I bet you were part of the problem which took advantage of these people, I’ll go as far to say you were a gang man …..yes I have Irish parents first generation who would of only wanted to help these compatriots not look down on them ….your comment says …black and tan .

[@jodyguinness3864]

I would comment that Irish were brainwashed by 'even' grandparents' that there's Iron in guinness: Lonliness was a huge epidemic and missing home, and dreams of a family, long gone: Finally, financial savvy was absent and saving was not encouraged: they sent money home and drank to numb themselves from the sorrow of rough living: god bless them all: somebodies sons and brothers::

[@Post-Beak-Break_Ortega]

💔🍀💔

[@lentilgirl158]

any clues on how we could get information concerning individual Irish people who migrated to England in the 1940s?

[@DazFurey]

Contact aisling.org.uk/ they should be able to help

[@eugenio1542]

I am crying inside. Nationalise the Royal Family and assets to fund Social Services ☝️❤️✌️🌍🙏

[@1066ukjoseph]

I'm Irish but I do not drink alcohol I don't even go to pubs . These guys created their issues . I work and save

[@johnsmith-bx4rn]

how much have you saved ?

[@dmcg6074]

I tend to agree, it doesnt add up, Con is unemployed sine the 80's...the fact that people have since came in their droves in the last 20 yrs says there was always work, no savings either, his was the generation that could buy a house cheap and watch i its value skyrocket. Life is about choices...alot of these men probably made the wrong ones

[@Gommerell]

I would agree with you to an extent, they are clearly alcoholics and I was told at the time when I worked in London in the 80s " If you drink when things go wrong, you will only make it worse". And without knowing them personally I can assure they have met misfortune, and drunk their sorrows away. They came over from Ireland and were flogged by the Irish Sub-contractor and no doubt paid in the Pub at night, long hours and hard work drove them to the Pub and after a while a drink problem developed and they were good for nothing else. When you are doing long hours and have no home into which you can invest-I don't mind solely a mortgage, you can rent a place and make it a home, do a garden have a hobby. This is hard to do when you are working on the Buildings and moving from place to place , you cant put roots down. Everyone of us can make poor decisions and end up down a dead -end track.

[@Jungleland33]

Aren't you fucking brilliant. Give yourself a big pat on the back.

[@dmcg6074]

@@Jungleland33 thanks for your valuable contribution

[@danielmccabe8992]

Dont mock these people,knew everyone of these people,they had their personal reasons

[@elzorro7of9]

Brian Cowen the worst of the worst.

[@Kitiwake]

"Era, f... them". Irish government policy.

[@johndoe-ss9bz]

In America, they created an Irish Society with Marriages Homeownership Educated Children Irish Middleclass Communities and not seeking handouts.

[@aaroni5074]

Yeah that was the 1800s pal

[@Frawls42]

@@aaroni5074 it still goes on to this very day.

[@lythalls]

@@Frawls42got a link to that ?

[@LilyMoriarty-v9s]

❤❤❤❤❤

[@MargaretDunne-g1h]

Hi my name is Margaret dunne ilivet in corporation house in Drogheda 10 green lanes co louth on transfer list last 7 years on medical grounds wish someone TD wood help get on want to move out of Drogheda

[@tommcinerney7641]

What happened??

[@JerkerDahlblom]

How did Irish women fare in England?

[@christopherwalsh4703]

Married English most of them saved money Irish lads we don’t look after ourselves drinking betting women catches up

[@davidschley8773]

@@christopherwalsh4703 the Trans one's married the English men😂🤣

[@emmetsweeney9236]

Women fared much better. Often married English men.

[@philtoner2621]

Not true that we all married English men, it was lonely and tough for women too and drink was a major factor also, destroyed life's 😥

[@mjh5437]

Most of them soon spread their legs and got up the duff with brown babies because they identify with other "communities" who spend their whole life sitting around blaming everyone else for their own problems.

[@Waterford051]

Con clean up ffs

[@Ohmfish]

looser always an excuse ...... self destruction

[@mikewatte4478]

Only a loser can't spell loser.

[@hara3435]

does it make you feel better to judge others? You are the 'looser' as you put it

[@healthydee381]

John McKee enjoys pointing the finger and condemning people.

[@davidschley8773]

your probably one of the people that pushed for war in Iraq , even after hearing sanctions killed a million babies 🤠, I bet your pushing for another few million people to go to war in the Ukraine , siege heil ... there for the grace of God go I .... its a long road , good luck.... These are poor desperate men and all you want to do is kick them when they are down , your either a a I troll or an eeejit and in case you don't know what that is in Ireland , its a human donkey 🤣😂

[@mjh5437]

@@healthydee381 Merely stating a fact.

[@Luky_Hands]

These men sent millions back to Ireland when we were on our knees economically in the sixties and seventies. Where’s the thanks?

[@dmcg6074]

How did it all go so wrong though...some poor decision making going on too

[@MichaelOBrien71]

So what ? It’s money they earned

[@seamusburke9101]

There is no thanks, and when any if them came home and tried ro settle in they were treated like lepers and told to go back ti where they came from.

[@grlfcgombeenhunter2897]

@@seamusburke9101 sounds like Ireland 🇮🇪

[@phillipmorris4555]

The ira army

[@missadda8890]

The best way to keep a prisoner from escaping is to convince him he is not in prison ,the drink is the culprit here as well as childhood trauma especially those from industrial schools the man who longs for Daithi Lacha should just go home as well as the rest they have nothing to lose just sign on the dole and tell social services they are homeless they would be much better off than the limbo they are in.

[@carolinehaley3528]

These men have severe depression issues.

[@mjh5437]

But do they return to Ireland where they like to pretend life is better?... No,they don`t.....Because it`s easier to be a lazy scrounger in England.

[@dr.richardkimble6780]

Sure how could they be any other way , God , some ,God love them 🙂

[@andrewconnolly7169]

Back in 2003 as a young lad I did a semi skilled training course, there were two men in their 50's over from London and had been in silimar situations. I admire those who dealt the cold face coming home and starting again. Those men who remained deserved better, life isn't fair either

[@mjh5437]

You poor lamb,boo-hoo.

[@andrewconnolly7169]

@@mjh5437 You profile would present that you had a very privileged upbringing, all those exotic locations in the 60's and the modeling mother. When I think of you commenting like this, I hope you're okay and you get out and about and meet someone that makes you smile in the near future.

[@roger_melly5025]

You are too kind to that twat@@andrewconnolly7169

[@lulusmith4877]

Con seems like a very caring man saving his bacon and sausages for his dog This is awfully sad thst these men live like this

[@Peanuthead1890]

Alcohol is a factor here in every case, i admire these men so so much they deserve better its a sad way to grow old. God help them poor men

[@paddyman2796]

Work is the curse of the drinking man

[@mjh5437]

Ever the victim.

[@poledancingpaddy6029]

a lot of sad tales of the migrants of the 50 /60s in england, ofc its much the same in ireland these days, was in london myself from 1958 ,lots of good fun, work, reasonable rents beer etc was lucky to have a good trade ,a plant fitter work i liked, found my way into overseas work eventually to veryhigh paid oil pipe lines in north america,here almost 55yrs, glad to be away from the wet and cold and wretched housing situation, sooh many treacherous political parasites both england and i n particular ireland ,nothing but contempt for political class andthe so called make believe elite plonkers and parasites all

[@anthonymcnamara4002]

I volunteered to help out at Arlington House in Camden, one year over Christmas in the mid Nineties. It broke my heart every single day. A lot of the men said they never went home, even though they had family there, because they were ashamed at how life had turned out for them, like they'd failed somehow. So sad. Even now, nearly thirty years later, it brings me to the verge of tears just thinking about them.

[@henrytan5588]

[ttgtttt

[@AnthonyMcCaul-c9g]

Harrowing!

[@anthonybrennan5908]

So sad

[@mattb1951]

A grt life