Irish immigrants suffer poorer physical and mental health, higher levels of alcohol abuse, and a higher rate of suicide than any other racial minority in Britain, according to a report in the latest issue of the British Journal of Psychiatry.
The journal says Irish people are the only migrant group whose life expectancy declines on arrival in Britain, and they have such high rates of illness that they should be recorded as a separate ethnic category to aid further research into the problem.
Irish men are nine times more likely to suffer from alcohol-related disorders and are 2 1/2 times more prone to depression. They are more than 50 per cent more likely to commit suicide.
The survey, by Dr Patrick Bracken of the University of Bradford and several co-authors, reflects growing concern about social disadvantage among the Irish community.
The problem is not limited to those born in the Republic, the report says, but also affects their second-generation children, who suffer a far higher mortality rate than their native English counterparts.
The gradual accumulation of psychiatric evidence about the illhealth of the Irish in Britain, hampered by a shortage of reliable statistics, comes at a time when emigration patterns have undergone profound change.
In the past, Irish immigration consisted predominantly of unskilled labourers in search of manual work. Those who stayed settled in traditional Irish communities, such as Kilburn, north London.
More recently there has been an influx of university-educated professionals. Like Australians and New Zealanders, they often work for a while in England before returning home.
The conversion of hundreds of British pubs to Irish theme bars, combined with the popularity of Guinness and the resurgence of Irish traditional music, might suggest that the Irish identity is less under threat than before.
But conditions for the Irish in Britain, Dr Bracken maintains, are far worse than for those who emigrate to the United States. "The Irish are treated quite differently in America and have no hesitancy in asserting their Irishness, unlike here." Unlike New York, there is no St Patrick's Day parade in London.
There are estimated to be 2.5 million Irish people living in Britain.