Some say he was a gentleman, others that the snakes he banished from Ireland were our druidic forefathers in one the first instances of religious and ethnic cleansing. But he’s our own and he is celebrated across the world wherever Irish people have landed.

For the last 20 years on our national day Aisling would be in Ireland with a group of returning emigrants looking for a parade to join and a pub/restaurant in which to get a plateful of bacon and cabbage. For several years we were invited to Ardal O’Hanlon’s home in Dublin where he and his family would bring friends and neighbours over and have a party for our group of up to 20 people. On one memorable occasion Ardal’s wife Melanie was shocked to meet her long lost uncle Tommy who had gone missing 40 years ago and had turned up out of the blue with the group.

It has been a difficult couple of years for us all with Covid restricting our activities and we have not been able run any of our return to Ireland trips for the last couple of years. That is something we hope to begin again this year. We also lost our founder and mentor John Glynn, when he died last August but we are determined to carry on with our work of supporting some of the most vulnerable members of the Irish community in London. We also plan to organise our day at the races in the summer and a comedy benefit gig later in the year. So look out for those events and come along to support our community and help us keep our loved ones in touch with their loved ones across the Irish Sea.