The London Irish Centre

A VISION FOR THE FUTURE

The London Irish Centre in the city’s Camden district is to get a £15 million makeover to transform it into a world class community and cultural centre fit for the 21st Century, while remaining true to the 65 year-old organisation’s roots as the heart of the Irish community - caring for and supporting the oldest, most vulnerable and isolated Irish in London.

With the building dating back to the 1850s - and actually consisting of three original homes which form the front façade, the aim is to almost double its usable space to 36,000 sq.ft.

The four-year redevelopment will enhance the centre’s existing community, care and wellbeing facilities, while providing a new community café, bar, work and meeting space. It will also improve event and performance space, creating an important cultural asset for Camden and London.

The centre’s Irish identity will be further emphasised through technology, design and storytelling, all within a building that incorporates the latest sustainable design features, says Dubliner Sean Kennedy, who has been its Chief Executive since 2016.

The social entrepreneur and businessman first became involved at the Centre in 2009, when he became a volunteer, befriending a man from Monaghan who was at the time suffering with health and alcohol related issues.

“A key design feature is to curate the story of the Irish in London. We will tell that story using digital technology, materials and original memorabilia. Irishman Finbarr Whooley, Director of Content at the Museum of London, is working with us on this,” he says.

Other members of the Irish community are also helping out in various ways. Musician Ed Sheeran and TV Presenter Dermot O’Leary are perhaps the most high-profile Patrons.

Chef Richard Corrigan is working on the kitchen design for the new building. Legal and consultancy services have been provided pro-bono by Garrett Hayes at Paul Hastings and Adrian Brady at Eulogy with BITA and a number of its members also supporting in various ways.

The Irish government pledged an initial £1 million to the project in January, emphasising that it should be a flagship cultural project, as good, if not better than the Irish Arts Centre in New York, or the Centre Culturel Irlandais in Paris.

“You have to remember that London is the third largest Irish city, in terms of population, after Dublin and Belfast,” says Kennedy.

430,000 people in Britain identified themselves as Irish-born in the last census there, in 2011, with more than an estimated 140,000 of those living in the capital.

“This centre is a lifeline for our community. Over half of the Irish population in London are over 65. It’s about that vital support we provide to them. At any time we are running between 15 and 20 welfare and community-related projects, and they’re all extremely busy. But if we kept our existing building, in 5 years’ time, we’d be faced with having to cut back our services because the building as it’s currently laid out wouldn’t be fit for purpose, or generate the income to support the core care and community services. At the moment the design is inefficient, with about 9,000 sq.ft - almost a third - of our current space unusable – consisting of corridors or staircases and with maintenance and repairs costs increasing dramatically.

“What we have to do now is honour the past, celebrate the present, and plan for, and embrace the future,” he adds.

Award-winning Coffey Architects have been chosen from a concept design competition, and Kennedy and his team are currently running focus groups, workshops, and public consultations, so that the community can have an input into the new building’s design.

The project is likely to take four years to complete, including about 18 months for construction. The team are currently in the pre-planning stage, and hope to have planning permission by next June.

A fundraising campaign has also been initiated, with the hope that the many successful Irish diaspora in Britain will see the value of supporting this unique project.

The redeveloped centre will act as a social enterprise – where the building creates the income which delivers the impact; with events, conferences and functions generating the money to fund the core mission of providing care and community services to those most in need.

The new building will make the centre more commercially viable, enabling it to increase the income it needs to sustain its vital community and care services, increasing from the £1.25 million a year it currently earns from a very constrained space.

“We want to be able to increase our offer of top-class events and hospitality space, while showcasing even more from our thriving arts and education sector, all in an iconic venue, all with an Irish flag over the door and even greater added value than what we currently offer.

This is an ambitious project, but when you look at how many high achievers there are among the Irish in Britain – in the arts, culture, business, construction, architecture, engineering, technology, the professions, medicine, public service, media and finance, then there’s no reason why we shouldn’t be ambitious.

“London deserves to have this worldclass community and cultural centre, the Irish heart of London. It will be a destination where the Irish community can get together, celebrate and enjoy London while at the same time supporting the most vulnerable”.

THE LONDON IRISH CENTRE,THE IRISH HEART OF LONDON

Established in 1955, The London Irish Centre supports 1,000s of members of the Irish community in London every week – providing care and support, community outreach and cultural experiences to people of all ages and from all backgrounds.

Over the course of its 65 year history, the London Irish Centre has evolved to be the cornerstone of Irish culture, community and care in London – core values underpinning all our activities.

LIC is now on a journey to Reimagine, Redevelop and Reposition the London Irish Centre as a world class community and cultural centre. This new Centre, led by an extraordinary group of staff and volunteers, will serve the needs of not just the Irish community but of all those with an affinity to Ireland. It will be a community and cultural Centre that gives a warm Irish welcome to all – put simply it will be the Irish Heart of London. The overall cost of the redevelopment is approximately £15 million, which includes government, institutional and philanthropic funding.