| Concerns over health of the Irish in Britain BY
GRAHAM CLIFFORD
 TIMES
may have moved on since the huge waves of Irish emigration to Britain
— but the health of the community has got no better.
A new report has warned the health of Irish emigrants to Britain is as
bad now as it was 50 years ago.
The survey by Brent Irish Advisory Service (BIAS) and the NHS presents
a stark picture.
It details shocking levels of poor health amongst the Irish in the London
borough of Brent and other parts of Britain.
While the total number of emigrants crossing the Irish Sea has fallen
rapidly over the past decade the report states a trend of increased health
problems continues to prevail.
It highlights disproportionate levels of alcohol add-iction within the
Irish community, as well as younger Irish people living in London turning
to drugs.
Study author Dr Patricia Walls said: “This is a worrying and unexpected
development.
“Drink for many is being replaced with drugs, which potentially
brings with it obvious and severe health problems.”
The report was launched at the Crown Moran Hotel in Cricklewood in London
last week.
Dr Walls told the audience there was a clear lack of policy interest from
authorities when it came to the Irish community.
She said a clear correlation still existed between construction workers
and health problems — adding the same percentage of Irish emigrants
are working in the building trade now as they were in the 1950s.
The report also revealed more than 40 per cent of patients using alcohol
treatment centres in Brent area are of Irish origin — although the
group only represents 7 per cent of the area’s total population.
Dr Walls said the figure was six times higher than would be expected but
clearly showed the depth of alcohol addiction amongst many Irish emigrants
and their families.
And the Irish community also tops almost all of the statistical tables
concerning health-related issues in Brent.
Mayor of Brent Colum Moloney said: “Health prov-iders in our borough
must be aware of these dreadful facts.
“The report makes for grim reading as Irish emigrants and people
of Irish parents continue to fall through the net.”
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