Accounts of displacement. Migrant Irish women in London

The Irish community is by far the largest ethnic group by migration in London when second generation is included. comprising 9.6 percent of the total and 12.2 percent of the white population (Action Group for Irish Youth, 1995). In this article, I provide a brief profile of young Irish women's migration to London and present some accounts of displacement as expressed by Irish women who have taken part in my study of Irish women, emigration and national identity. As my research is still in its early stages these themes emerge from only an initial analysis of some of the women's accounts. Cherry Smyth (1995, p.221) describes her emigration in terms of 'a struggle against displacement' which is a recurring theme amongst the Irish women migrants to London taking part in my study. Before exploring this lheme further, I want to sketch an outline picture of Irish emigration in the 1980s and provide a brief profile of recent Irish women migrants in London.