President McAleese has highlighted some of the difficulties faced by many Irish emigrants living in Britain and has praised the role of Immigrant Counselling And Psychotheraphy (ICAP).
Speaking at the unveiling of the new offices of ICAP in London today, President McAleese said: "I know that wherever on this island the Irish community gathers in their many centres and homes from home, they offer care to one another, advice and all sorts of help, support and encouragement.
"At times in our lives though, we may need a different level of support with a clear focus on our mental and psychological wellbeing, for there is plenty of research to tell us that the emigrant is at much greater risk of ill-health and the Irish emigrant in particular."
Mrs McAleese said that of particular importance was "the work ICAP is doing with the Irish Department of Health and Children on behalf of those who suffered abuse as children while in the care of institutions of the Irish State. . . . Counselling, we know, cannot reconstruct a childhood, but it can help to make an adult life more coherent, more complete, more healed".
She went on to say that the contribution that the Irish community has made to modern British society is "a source of pride to all of us."
"Those who came here in the lean years of the 1940s and 50s, who courageously started a new life abroad, embody a strength of spirit, of resolution and resilience that deserves to be long remembered," Mrs McAleese said.
"Many made good lives for themselves and for their children, they flourished and prospered. Some descended into loneliness, depression, alcohol and endless struggle.
"In more recent decades, as Ireland has grown in prosperity, the story of emigration has been reversed with more people migrating to Ireland than from it, including many returning Irish emigrants," Mrs McAleese said.
"Those who come to Britain now tend to be well-educated, professionals, confident and capable but that is not the story of all and there are still those who experience the devastation of overwhelming loneliness and social isolation."