By Bernard Thompson
Appeared in Irish Examiner, 12th April 2001
Dr Joseph Bradley, of Stirling University, said people with Irish surnames, who were more likely to be Catholic, are 26% more likely to die prematurely and 51% more likely to die of heart disease.
"There was also a higher than expected proportion of Catholics in the Scottish prison population," Dr Bradley said.
"If you look at the USA, all of these things apply to non-white groups because of their social circumstances and their experiences over the last couple of hundred years.
"I think, quite clearly, that is the case with the Irish in Scotland and Britain. They have been called the ‘blacks’ of Scotland.
"Many people who came fleeing famine in Ireland in the middle of the nineteenth century were as poor as those in Ethiopia 15 years ago.
"If you remember the scenes on television from Ethiopia, those were the kind of people who were coming to Scotland 150 years ago. Lots of them haven’t recovered that far," Dr Bradley said.
He also highlighted traditional Irish enclaves in the West of Scotland such as Coatbridge and the Gorbals, Calton and Garngad areas of Glasgow, which he said have some of the worst health statistics and poverty in Scotland.
"If you look at the situation in America, prejudice has been part of the equation and the perception is, amongst a great number of Catholics of Irish extraction, that prejudice has been a powerful part of their experience," he said.
Consistent with this was a reluctance, in some members of the Irish community, to reveal their national heritage and a hesitation in giving children Irish names. He attributed this to troublesome encounters with non Irish Scots.
This, he said, makes it more important that Irish Scots make use of the new ‘Irish’ option in the statement of ethnic origin in the 2001 census.
He explained that "if there is a serious undercounting of the Irish, it will mean that the population will remain under recognised."
Speaking generally, he commented: "It’s not to do with skin, or where they actually come from. It’s the position they hold within the community."
His research was carried out as part of the Irish Project for the Economic and Social Research Council.
Professor Tom Devine, who is Director of Scottish and Irish Studies at Aberdeen University, agreed.
"This is a class issue, as Irish immigrants have traditionally been working class and prone to premature death and ill health."
However, Dr Bradley did detect an improvement in attitudes over the past 10 years, which he attributed to the Northern Ireland peace process and Irish economic success presenting a more positive definition of Irishness to Scots, in general.
Similar studies are being done by academics in London, Manchester, Coventry and Banbury.
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