“The difference in culture, humor and attitude is obvious when you move to the UK” – Irish Times

For centuries, Ireland has seen the familiar sight of young people waving goodbye to their families in search of a new life abroad. A less familiar sight is of young people waving goodbye to their families and siblings as their families move abroad for new lives.

That’s what happened to me.

It was December 1971. There was a large moving van for the family and a smaller van to transport me from Artan to my bedsitter’s new home on Fairview Crescent. I was 20 years old and it was my first time living independently.

My family was planning to move to Ipswich, Suffolk, in East Anglia, in the east of England, a place I had barely heard of before moving, but after a Christmas visit, I realized that I would also live there. I decided to do that.

When I arrived I wasn’t overwhelmed. I had been warned that Ipswich was not a pleasant place to live. I immediately regretted my decision. My job, my friends, my social life – all of that was what I left behind in Dublin.

The situation gradually changed. I found a job, friends, relationships, and spent several months in Germany as an au pair. Returning to Ipswich, I got married and settled into a domestic life that lasted two years.

By 1980 I had remarried and started a family, but by the early 1980s this reluctant immigrant was the only member of my family left in Ipswich.

By the time my third child was born, I was beginning to regret leaving school after Intersert. I became interested in education and took on the role of a governor at my children’s school. That’s when I became interested in policy and politics. I joined the British Labor Party, and at the age of 40, I applied and was accepted to the University of Essex to study sociology.

My main interests were education and the sociology of health and disease. It was while studying for my third year final project that I discovered that as an immigrant group, the Irish have the highest mortality rate of all immigrant groups in the UK. This misfortune was repeated among second and third generation Irish people.

I was surprised, but after research, I came to the conclusion that the cause was a combination of physical illness and psychological issues. Being white and speaking English did not guarantee easy assimilation for many Irish people. It is only when you move to the UK that the differences in culture, humour, lifestyle and attitude become apparent.

While many overcome these differences and fully assimilate, others are more vulnerable, with less support and fewer means, but still retain the “home” lifestyle they are accustomed to in another country. I am having a hard time being able to recreate the community.

A very small number of immigrants return to Ireland, but many more believe they will return when they first arrive.

I graduated in 1993 and in 1996 became chair of the national organization, the Campaign for State Education (Case). As an organization, we are committed to advocating for the best education for all children, regardless of their station in life, and calling for an end to the 11-plus system that classified students at the age of 11. did. test.

It was around this time that I took a job as an education welfare officer with the local education authority. Basically it involved encouraging reluctant young school attendees to just go to school. Although I didn’t like school myself, I came to appreciate the importance of education to young people’s life chances. I tried to convey this to the reluctant students.

[ Raising Irish children abroad: ‘They made me re-evaluate my own attitude to Ireland’ ]

In 1999 I was approached to become a member of Ipswich Borough Council. Ipswich was now a more vibrant town offering great culture and sport.

I was proud to be elected, to be involved in policy regarding the town, and to help residents in my patch solve their problems. Thirteen years later, it was proposed that I become mayor. I was selected for the role in his 2012 Olympic year.

It is a great honor to be Mayor and I was the first Irish Mayor of the town and I was very proud of that. It was a very busy and very fun time.

It was a purely ceremonial and representative role and involved projecting a positive image of the town at civic events. My job was to honor those who dedicated themselves to helping others, and when the mayor needed to be present, I usually did so with a smile on my face.

I attended sports and cultural events and visited schools, and one child at the event asked me, “Can a woman become mayor?”

This role comes with responsibilities as well as privileges, but sociable and fun events were far more important than boring tasks. In this one year he has raised £21,000 for my chosen charity, the homeless charity Women’s Aid, Crisis and the children’s trust Town 102. .

Moreover, it turns out that there is no former mayor more than a former mayor. One minute you’re the guest of honor at every event, and the next you’re making way for the new mayor. But it was a great ending to my political career.

Now, 12 years into my retirement, I read books, play tennis, watch too much TV, and worry about the instability of the world. But I continue to be encouraged by those who are looking for answers to inequality, injustice, and inhumanity.

• Mary Blake was born in 1951 in Ballymun. She started attending school in Larne, County Antrim when she was five years old. Her parents were both from Belfast. She returned to Dublin when she was eight years old, and she moved with her family to Ipswich in 1971. She joined her family in 1972 when she was 20 years old. She’s still there.
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