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A History of the Luton Irish Forum

The Luton Irish Forum was founded in 1997. It came into being because of government encouragement that communities should become more proactive and more involved in the general life of the community in which they live. Our community had for many years adopted a very low profile. The opening of Luton University and the formation of an Irish studies Degree Course at the University gave a great fillip to the idea of an Irish Forum. Professor John Brannigan was head of Irish Studies and was instrumental in drawing up out first constitution. Margaret Moran- later to become MP for Luton South was the guiding force to the foundation of our first committee. In May 1997 a coach was hired to take a group of well known Irish to the Houses of Parliament. It was in one of the committee rooms, on that hallowed ground that the Luton Irish Forum was born. Elected Chair was Seamus Mernagh, Secretary John Manning, Treasurer Billy Griffin.
Among the founding members were John Hutcheson, Frank Horan, Joe Ward, Tom and Francis Bourke, John McCaffrey.
Hilary Nielson (development worker LBC) was seconded to is to give invaluable help and advice in our efforts to get established and identify the needs of our community. Regular monthly meetings were held in the Town Hall and eventually we established a Saturday morning drop-in cum social centre in the Assembly rooms at the Town Hall. Progress was slow and money- well we had none- as we tried through the Council to find a base from which to work.
Eventually though the influence of Cllr Bill McKenzie (Now Lord) – the leader of Luton Council and Cllr Hazel Simmons we were offered part of the first floor of Hightown Recreation Centre, as a base for our work.  We were delighted and moved in to our first home in Nov: 2000. Grants were sought and volunteers recruited. The area was painted, carpeted, decorated, floored, furnished, and an office equipped. This was the beginning of real progress, and hard work for volunteers of the Irish Forum. Council support has been ongoing since then. For that we are grateful.

At last we had a base. Our motto was “A voice for the Irish in Luton”. In 2001 we established regular opening hours for 3 days a week, and laid the foundation of an advice and social/cultural centre. Health was also a major concern. We also joined the Federation of Irish Societies- their advice and expertise has been invaluable.
In April 2001 we achieved Charitable Status which was another milestone in our development. We were successful in obtaining a grant from the Luton and Dunstable Partnership Single Regeneration Budget. This enabled is to welcome to our ranks a full time development worker- Frances McCauley. Part of her brief was to assess the needs of our community.
We commissioned a research project to this end, by Rehab UK Ltd and the results of this research were published in Oct: 2004. In 2002 the Irish Government task force on emigrants reported, and it recommended huge increases in funding for voluntary agencies working with the Irish abroad. This was good news. In July 2004- thanks to Dion (Irish Govt: Agency) funding, the Forum was able to employ the services of a full time advice worker- Michael….