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Issue 1 March 1998
Welcome to the first Newsletter from Battersea and Wandsworth Irish
Group. In which we hope to
help keep you up to date with our activities as well as other events of
particular interest to the Irish
residents of Battersea and Wandsworth.
Battersea and Wandsworth Irish Group are an informal group who
aim to help to promote
a positive image and identity for the Irish community in the area. We meet
on the first Thursday of
most months and support a variety of community groups and campaigns.
We are entirely self financing and recieve no external grants or subsidies.
There are currently 13 elected committee members, other than this we do
not have a membership as such, aiming to represent the local Irish community
as a whole. Although most of the work of our functions is carried
out by the members of the committee many other volunteers help out in our
activities.
What do BWIG do?
We put on a variety of events for St Patrick’s day and throughout the
year. Over the last few years our
music events have ranged from small gigs in pubs with local artists, to
major acts including Mary
Black, Dolores Keane, The Boys of the Lough and Davy Spillane at Battersea
Grand Hall.
Most years we host a lecture on an issue of current interest and arrange
for an Irish storyteller to
visit local primary schools as well as promoting performances of
Irish folk dancing
Each June we collaborate with The Workers Beer Company on the Fleadh,
at Finsbury Park where
we organise the community stalls.
We support local pensioners groups and often work together with
the LARA Community Centre.
We also make donations to causes such as CONCERN WORLDWIDE who do
relief work in many
countries..
And from now on we’ll be publishing this newsletter at intervals. To
receive your copy and for news of
our forthcoming events, or if you just fancy coming along to our next meeting
for the Craic then ring
us or write to us at the numbers or address below.
To find out more just contact
Phil = 0181 767 1093
or write to BWIG at:
177a Lavender Hill
Battersea
LONDON
SW11
email BWIG@Which.Net
The Irish Women’s Centre
The following is from the Irish Women's Centre Christmas Newsletter.
In brief:
They've issued a new Mission Statement:
“The London Irish Women’s Centre is an independent advice, support and
counselling centre for
Irish women and women of Irish descent. we aim to represent and empower
Irish women through
the provision of a range of services. we provide a WOMEN ONLY
SPACE.”
They’ve also issued a new list of Aims and objectives which I wont repeat
in full, they include
the promotion of :
“a WOMEN ONLY SPACE where Irish women’s needs are catered for,”;
a range of equal opportunities services: counselling and advice services;
information compilation to enable welfare and research agencies in targeting
the needs of Irish
women;
and the promotion of a range of events to promote positive cultural images
to Irish children.
Current campaigns include the fight to save lone parent benefit (proposed
from April 1998). As well
as lobbying parliament on 10th December, the I W C have written to Tony
Blair, Gordon Brown and
Harriet Harman to protest, (if you want to support this campaign yourself,
you could do worse than to
write to them and your own MP too). The TGWU and GMB are also actively
opposing this
legislation.
To find out more contact ;
SAVE LONE PARENT BENEFIT
C/O 12 CHATHAM ROW
BATH
BA1 5BS
The IWC has Maternity rights packs available for just £1 to cover postage.
For those who feel like taking an active part the IWC is currently looking
for new members for their
Management Committee and User Forum and have vacancies in their Counselling
Service.
For more information about the London Irish Women’s Centre write to:
London Irish Women’s Centre
59 Stoke Newington Church Street
London
N16
Tel 0171 249 7318 (Tue/Wed)
Minicom 0171 241 5140
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The Worker’s Beer Company:
Along with many other campaigning and community organisations we owe
a great deal to the Workers
Beer Company, and look forward to working with them again in the 1998 festival
season.
Last year saw some great days in Finsbury park with Kiss & Rage Against
the Machine, the Sex
Pistols, and Madness gigs as well as the Fleadh. As usual I can vaguely
recall a great day featuring a
wide variety of mainly Irish bands, Sting was rather alarmingly the
headlining international artist. In
spite of the fact that a lack of enthusiasm for the Police man may have
led to a smaller crowd than
usual he still managed to make up for it with a performance far exceeding
at least my expectations.
Unless you spent the whole of last Summer on Planet Zog you must have heard
that Glastonbury 1997
was a swamp with bands in it. It still managed, somehow, to be the
best party on Earth though, and in
spite of all the slogging through the mud I’d have done it all again
rather than go home!
In comparison Reading and the Phoenix were thankfully free of extreme weather
conditions but not of
great music and partying.
The anti racism gig in Hackney was another great success, sadly however
the Mayday Festival was
banished from its home on Clapham Common and had to be held at Finsbury
Park.
For much of the Season we were joined by the representatives of the sacked
Liverpool Dockers, and
with sales of their tee-shirts and collections made at the bars we
were able to help them raise a
substantial amount for their strike fund. It was especially nice
to see the official souvenir tee-shirt stall
selling some of the dockers’ shirts for them.
For a few of the 1997 shows we also had a few some guests from
the Irish Union movement who had
come over to learn about the way the Workers Beer Company do things with
a view to developing a
similar set-up in Ireland. We certainly wish them every success in
whatever develops there.
And don’t forget that the Workers Beer Company have now got their
own pub, the Bread and Roses
in Clapham Manor Street. Good food, Workers Ale, plenty of information
about the local Labour
movement’s activities a function room available free of charge for your
meetings and only a short walk
from Clapham Common Tube Station.
The Workers Beer Company
The Bread and Roses
Clapham Manor St
Clapham
LONDON
SW4
Congratulations
To The Bread & Roses
Not content with winning an Evening Standard award, they've been awarded
"Best
Refurbished Pub of the Year" by Camra & English Heritage and been
shortlisted for a
"Best Bar" award from Time Out with Michelob. Well Done
Anti Irish Prejudice: What’s the problem?
As with any ethnic minority, many, probably most individuals don’t experience
much in the way of
problems that cause them serious worry. That doesn’t mean that anti-Irish
racism is acceptable, nor
can it be assumed to be rare.
The C.R.E. (Commission for Racial Equality) report, “The Irish in Britain *, sums up the position:
“Irish people are constantly reminded that they are not entitled to
an equal place in British
society. On the other hand they are not seen as sufficiently different
for this racism to be
acknowledged and to be afforded some measure of protection.”
The same report tells us that the Irish are “by far the largest
ethnic minority in Great Britain”
people born in Ireland and their children making up an estimated 4.6% of
the population, and 11.5%
of the population of Greater London.
In spite of this, and the fact that there are numerous examples of
Irish people suffering the effects of
racial prejudice, it is not possible to tell just how big the problem is!
The Irish are not recognised as a
specific group for ethnic monitoring purposes.
The report gives numerous examples of cases of prejudice where
they have been able to help the
victims e.g.:
A factory worker who was “faced with derogatory comments about his Irish
origin nearly every
day.” then sacked when he continued to complain .
A job applicant who was refused an interview because she was “Irish and
therefore unreliable”.
In 1994 the C.R.E. recommended that employers include the Irish
as a category in their ethnic
minority monitoring programs. Some employers have done so,
but many have not. They have also
recommend that the Irish are recognised as an ethnic minority
for the 2001 census for England,
Scotland and Wales. the 1991 census did not include this and as a result
all statistics on the Irish
community in Britain had to be derived on answers about place of birth.
A survey of Irish members of the public showed that a large proportion
suffered some degree of racial
harassment, although no members of the sample had considered taking legal
action.
If you are a victim of prejudice, remember, you are not alone..Speak
to your Union Rep. Contact the
C.R.E..for further information , and please let us at BWIG know how you
get on.
The Commission for Racial Equality Elliot House
10 Allington St
London
SW1E SEH
*THE IRISH IN BRITAIN
The Commission for Racial Equality ,
June 1997
Your Bit
This is the first, and therefore I can safely say, the best ever BWIG
newsletter.
If you have events and news that you feel you would like us to pass on
then please
let us know.
We'll try to oblige.
That's what we're publishing this newsletter for.
We don't charge for this, but by the same token we cannot guarantee to
fit you
in.
We are particularly keen to hear from other Irish community organisations
in
London & the Southeast of England.
If you feel that you have something to say, then please feel free to
submit letters
or articles. At the present there's no chance of us paying for contributions
I'm
afraid, but we will try to get your message across.
If you are have a commercial product or service that you would like
to advertise,
we may consider that too. If we do accept advertising in the future,
I can
promise that our rates will be very reasonable. We will certainly
not accept
advertising from any organisation which we do not believe to be run with
a very
high standard of ethics.
The next issue is likely to be coming out in late May so please send
us your
contributions in plenty of time.
Apologies to all of our friends out there whose campaigns and
events I have been
unable to cover this time around, please keep writing to us and we'll
try to pass
on as much info as we can.
Time is running out.
So thanks for reading.
I hope you can make it to one of our events in the next few months.
Be Seeing You, =
BWIG EVENTS
We've got a busy time ahead, starting with a...
Party:
13th March, 1998
LARA Community Hall.
(St Paul's Church
92 St John's Hill
Clapham Junction)
We are holding a party for all the people
who have worked with us at Worker's Beer
Company events over the years..
All welcome
Free admission
Bar
Disco
Free buffet.
We are also inviting members of other community organisations to come
along, so it
will be a good opportunity to meet up with those friends that you rarely
see other than
at festivals.
This party is open to all so please come along. The LARA is less
than five minutes
walk from Clapham Junction station, admission and buffet are free and the
bar is
reasonably priced and you'd have to go a very long way to meet a livelier
crowd. So
there's no excuse!
See you there!
OK!
Not, strictly speaking a BWIG event, but our very own John Mc Donnell
is hosting
his irreverent monthly quiz at the Bread and Roses on 16th of March.
Although it wont be a strictly Irish affair he says he'll be giving it
'an Irish Flavour'
(Guinness?) in honour of
St Patrick's Day,
17th March,
Bread and Roses
5pm to 9pm:
FAMILY DAY
17th March
This year we are collaborating with the Workers Beer Company to put
on a joint
family event for St Patrick's day. Children are welcome before 9 O'clock
so you can
come and celebrate, without having to worry about them. After
9 the pub will still be
open of course and grown ups are more than welcome to stay.
There will be a special menu for St Patrick's day as well as the usual
fare and top class
entertainment:from:
5 O'clock , folk stories from Patrick Ryan.
6 O'clock a welcome return of the Kay Ryan School of Dancing with a
performance of Irish dancing
To round off the evening we have Ceilidh steeped music from, The Brent
Music Service.
Don't forget, come along and bring the family, children are welcome
until 9
O'clock
Irish Storyteller:
It's that man again. We have also arranged for Patrick to make
appearances at 3
local primary schools on St Patrick's daywith a mixture of Irish and other
ethnic stories.
So if you're children are at St Joseph's, Highview or Clapham Manor Park
Schools
then they'll be able to see him in action twice.
Thanks also to the schools for supporting St Patrick's Day.
Kells,
April 26th,
Unveiling of the Red Flag Memorial:
We're sending an official representative to this event but have shelved
plans to hold our
April meeting in Kells
Finally:
We're hoping to join with the Worker's Beer Company again to put on a whole
month of Irish events in the early Summer. Keep your eyes out for
our next
newsletter, or better still give us your name and address and have it sent
to your door
for free.
Dates:
Party
LARA Community Hall
(St Paul's Church
92 St John's Hill
Clapham Junction)
Friday 13th March
John McDonnell
Quiz Night
The Bread & Roses
16th March
Patrick Ryan
St Joseph's , Highview & Clapham Manor Park Schools
and at
The Bread & Roses:
St Patrick's Day
17th March
The Brent Music Service
The Bread & Roses:
St Patrick's Day
17th March
The Kay Ryan School of Dancing
The Bread & Roses:
St Patrick's Day
17th March
Red Flag Memorial
Kells
26th April
A month of Irish events
The Bread & Roses
June or thereabouts.
Addresses
The Commission for Racial Equality
Elliot House
10 Allington St
London
SW1E SEH
London Irish Women’s Centre
59 Stoke Newington Church Street
London
N16
Tel 0171 249 7318 (Tue/Wed)
Minicom 0171 241 5140
The Workers Beer Company
The Bread and Roses
Clapham Manor St
Clapham
LONDON
SW4
SAVE LONE PARENT BENEFIT
C/O 12 CHATHAM ROW
BATH
BA1 5BS
Hot Press, The WBC confirm that MAYDAY is ON.
At:
Finsbury Park
3rd of May 1998
Home to BWIG
177a Lavender Hill
Battersea
LONDON
SW11