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The report made some reference to discrimination faced by Irish migrants in the 19 th century
but felt that by the post-war period:
… the Irish were duly accommodated within the social structure of twentieth-century
England without any drastic modification of that structure … the Irish by the Second
World War were largely accepted. And their full participation in the extension of
rights in the Welfare State was unquestioned. (Rose et al, 1969, p.18-19)
The Rose (1969) and Parekh Report’s (2000) different perceptions of the Irish community
within a multicultural paradigm reflect the changing perspectives amongst historians of Irish
migration. The Parekh Report particularly drew on the work of Hickman and Walter (1995;
1997) who had researched conditions facing the Irish community. However, the argument that
the Irish community has faced racism in late 20th century Britain has not received universal
support. Howe (2000, p.51) challenged this belief and argued that, ‘…evidence on anti-Irish
discrimination and prejudice in Britain remains highly ambiguous’. Howe accepted that the
Irish community faced hostility but felt that Hickman and Walter (1995; 1997) had failed to
explain upward social mobility among the Irish community. However, the following reference
from their work suggests that this criticism was unjustified:
Irish-born people are clustered in particular occupation and industrial categories
reflecting gaps in the British labour market… Northern Irish-born people by contrast
have profiles much closer to, or even slightly higher status than, the British average.
(Hickman & Walter, 1997, p.50)
He was particularly critical of the way in which they argued that the Irish have been ignored
because it is assumed that they have been ‘assimilated’ into British society. Howe argued that
this demonstrated a misunderstanding of the term ‘assimilation’, presumably because it is
commonly used to explain a policy. Nevertheless, it can be argued it is still a perfectly