merrion street

The Minister of State for the Diaspora and development, Ciarán Cannon TD, is in Leeds today to meet with Irish community leaders.

He will begin by visiting the Leeds Irish Centre, one of the largest Irish Centres in Britain. He will then pay a courtesy call on the Lord Mayor of Leeds, Councillor Jane Dowson, before visiting Leeds Gypsy and Traveller Exchange, an Emigrant Support Programme (ESP) supported organisation providing support for Travellers in the Leeds region. Afterwards he will host a lunch for 24 Irish community leaders from Leeds, Manchester, Huddersfield, and Newcastle.

Following lunch he will attend a community engagement session organised by ESP supported Leeds Irish House and Home (LIHH), where he will have an opportunity to hear how the needs of the community are being addressed through its activities. That evening he will attend the launch of the LIHH friends scheme at Sky Leeds, which will bring together members of the Irish business community in the city in support of the LIHHs activities.

Speaking in advance of his visit Minister Cannon said:

“I am delighted to have this opportunity to visit Leeds, one of the historic centres of the Irish community in Britain, and to have the opportunity to meet many of the key leaders of the community from Leeds and regionally, across a wide range of organisations catering to the social, welfare, cultural and sporting needs of the community.

The Government is firmly committed to supporting our diaspora. I’m delighted to take this opportunity to meet with organisations which receive funding through the Emigrant Support Programme to see how they are addressing the needs of our community in Britain.