News

Tuesday, 25th November 2025

Delighted to be attending the final programme meeting of #ERMiNE2025 - (European Return & Migration Network) in Berlin this week and to meet with all our colleagues on this project from Latvia, Poland, Spain, Germany, Spain, UK, Italy and ourselves and Crosscare Irish Diaspora Support Project in Ireland.

Also, amazing presentations of work done on the ground in Germany and pan Europe around return migration and issues related to this.  We look forward to working together in 2026 on future projects.

Saturday, 22nd November 2025

We were delighted to attend the ‘2025 Meeting of German-Irish Societies and Organisations’ at the Embassy of Ireland, Berlin today and to hear about the great work done on the ground covering business, sports, culture, language, music, town twinning (and so much more), throughout Germany and the strong links in/with between Ireland and Germany. It was a great opportunity to talk about our work at Safe Home Ireland. Finally, great to meet with and connect with Irish in Business Network who supported Safe Home Ireland as their charity partner in recent years.

Thank you to all staff at Consular Services in Germany, Ambassador Meave Collins, and the Irish Foreign Ministry Emigrant Support Programme for supporting and acknowledging our work



#diaspora #safehomeconnects #ireland #germany

Thursday, 13th November 2025

Our last outreach abroad of 2025 today. Delighted to be invited to have a stall at the 'Survivors Integrated Service Health Wellbeing Day' at the London Irish Centre (survivors-only event).

The London Irish Centre survivors integrated service provides advice, advocacy and community programming to former residents and survivors of Irish institutions living in London and the Southeast. This includes residents in Mother and Baby homes, Magdalene Laundries and Industrial Schools.

https://londonirishcentre.org/.../commun.../survivorservice/

#safehomeconnects

Wednesday, 12th November 2025

William and Rose at The Irish Cultural Centre Hammersmith, pictured with our CEO Karen McHugh! Thank you to everyone who attended our Drop-in Clinic as well.

'The Irish Cultural Centre Hammersmith opened its doors in 1995 as the premiere centre in the UK dedicated to the promotion and welfare of Irish art and culture abroad. The ICC welcomes and invites people of all backgrounds and cultures to participate in our 3 core activities: our culture, community, and education

programmes.' https://irishculturalcentre.co.uk/

#safehomeconnects 

Wednesday, 12th November 2025

Shauna from the Irish Community Services Bexleyheath and Brian Dalton from Irish in Britain, pictured with our Outreach Officer, Karen Bollen.

The charity Irish Community Services was founded in 1984 to promote Irish Culture and support the Irish Community in South East London, while Irish in Britain is the national charity supporting a wide network of diverse Irish organisations that make up its membership across Britain.

#safehomeconnects 

Wednesday, 12th November 2025

Great to be back at Luton Irish Forum  today! Thank you to Noelette and team for the warm welcome and to everyone whom we met today.

Pictured below our Outreach Officer, Karen Bollen with Noelette Hanley, CEO Luton Irish forum. 

Thursday, 6th November 2025

Our last stop on our US Outreach this year was to the amazing New York Irish Center. Thank you to Niamh, George, Stephen and all the volunteers for the warm welcome, the hospitality and for the lovely lunch too!

It was great to meet members of the Wednesday Lunch Program and all who attended for appointments too. We look forward to continued collaboration going forward and coming back again soon!

Wednesday, 5th November 2025

Our CEO, Karen McHugh, was delighted to have the opportunity to meet with Gerald Angley, Consul General of New York, this morning and to talk about our work assisting Irish who are thinking of moving/returning to Ireland. We greatly appreciate the support and the opportunity to strengthen our links with the Consulate.

Wednesday, 5th November 2025

Thank you to Sandra and team at Aisling Irish Community Center, New York for such a warm welcome yesterday. It was also great to meet and chat with members of the Seniors  Program  and to witness first hand the strong community connections and hear about the wide range of activities at the centre.



Lovely to see our Safe Home Ireland 2025 Calendar hanging up in the kitchen too!

Tuesday, 4th November 2025

It was great to be back at the Emerald Isle Immigration Center in New York today and to hear more about and witness the great work carried out by the team there. Thank you once more for the hospitality and we look forward continued collaboration going forward 

Friday, 31st October 2025

It was great to meet with Síghle Fitzgerald from the Consulate General of Ireland, Boston this morning to talk about the work of Safe Home Ireland, particularly our support for Irish emigrants in the Massachusetts area and those thinking about returning or moving home to Ireland

Thursday, 30th October 2025

Thank you to the incredible team at the Irish Pastoral Centre Boston for such a warm welcome this week.

Thank you also to everyone who attended our Moving/Returning to Ireland Information Clinic and follow up appointments. We look forward to continuing our partnership and to assisting anyone who is thinking of living/returning to Ireland.

Tuesday, 28th October 2025

Thank you to everyone who attended our Sligo Returned Emigrants Network meeting on Saturday, 25th October.

We had valuable discussions around the positive aspects of returning home, as well as some of the key challenges and barriers experienced by those returning from both the US and Australia.

Our next Sligo meeting is scheduled for December — details to follow. In the meantime, we will be following up on some of issues raised and actions agreed at the session.

Thursday, 16th October 2025

Yesterday, Wednesday 15th October, we attended a Diaspora Consultation forum, hosted by Neale Richmond TD, Minister of State for International Development and Diaspora.

This forum, along with other consultations held in Ireland and abroad, will feed into the development of Ireland’s new Diaspora Strategy, which will be launched in April 2026.

We were pleased to highlight some of the key issues affecting Irish abroad and those considering moving or returning to Ireland, particularly people doing so in challenging or crisis situations.

We will continue to contribute to the development of Ireland’s new Diaspora Strategy, and to work closely with our partners and networks in Ireland and abroad to ensure that anyone who might need our support knows we are here to help.



#SafeHomeIreland #ReturningIrish #IrishAbroad #IrishDiaspora #safehomeconnects

Wednesday, 15th October 2025

It was great to meet with Neale Richmond TD, Minister of State for International Development and Diaspora yesterday. Unfortunately Minister Richmond was unable to attend our ‘Briefing on Issues Affecting Returning Irish citizens’ with Ciaran Staunton due to a delayed flight, so we fully briefed him when he arrived! We are so thankful for his enduring commitment and that of Irish Foreign Ministry ensuring better outcomes for returning citizen.

Tuesday, 14th October 2025

We were honoured to attend and present at a cross-party briefing on “Issues Affecting Returning Irish Citizens” today in Leinster House (Dáil Éireann), in association with Ciaran Staunton of the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform US).

A huge thank you to Johnny Guirke TD Meath West  for organising and inviting us to speak and to all who attended and showed commitment to tackling what was addressed as primarily ‘administrative challenges’.

Our briefing covered a broad range of issues, including:

• Recognition of foreign qualifications
• Voting rights for Irish abroad
• US/Irish driver’s licence exchange
• Planning and housing challenges
• Non-Irish spousal/de-facto visas

 Safe Home Ireland direct work with Irish abroad who are considering returning or moving home, particularly those returning in unplanned or crisis situations supported by Irish Foreign Ministry

We were very encouraged that the members who attended committed to advancing some of our recommendations, including the establishment of a ‘Cross-Party Oireachtas Committee on Returning Irish’. 

We will continue to share updates through our regular e-bulletins — sign up here: https://tinyurl.com/3xh7e2md

If you are abroad and thinking about returning, get in touch with us

If you have already returned and are facing any difficulties, we’d love to hear from you too.



Website: www.safehomeireland.com

#SafeHomeIreland #ReturningIrish #IrishAbroad #LeinsterHouse #IrishDiaspora

Monday, 29th September 2025

Our annual calendar is an important part of raising funds and awareness, and the 𝗦𝗮𝗳𝗲 𝗛𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗜𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲 𝗖𝗮𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗿 𝗶𝘀 𝗡𝗢𝗪 𝗼𝗻 𝘀𝗮𝗹𝗲!

Thank you to our wonderful Ambassador Seán Keane and Marty Whelan at RTÉ lyric fm for promoting Safe Home Ireland. Great to raise awareness of our charity to ensure that anyone thinking about moving/returning to Ireland knows who to contact/where to start!

Monday, 22nd September 2025

So delighted to hold our Safe Home Ireland Stakeholders Day and launch our new-look website www.safehomeireland.com

Thanks to our many speakers and those who supported us via letter and video. We had a fantastic day at the wonderful EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum on a sunny Dublin day!

#safehomeconnects

Monday, 8th September 2025

Great to meet the team at Ashford Place - Cricklewood, London this afternoon. They do amazing work with the Irish community in Brent and beyond. Hear more about their work at our NEW website launch on 22 September!

Sunday, 7th September 2025

Fantastic sunny day at London Irish Vintage Club 2025 Vintage Charity Day. Great to meet our friends from BIAS, The Irish World, Donegal County Council, Meath Association, Council  of Irish Associations and so many others. Thank you to Highland Radio for the interview too.

Please support this year's selected charities: St. Luke’s Hospice , Stamp Out Suicide, HCPT and Air Ambulance Northern Ireland.

Wednesday, 9th July 2025

We were pleased to meet with Neale Richmond TD, Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs with special responsibility for International Development and Diaspora, and with Karl Gardner, Head of Irish Abroad Unit

Pictured with Nova Fariss (Chairperson) and Karen McHugh (CEO) of Safe Home Ireland. We were pleased to have the opportunity to discuss our work and highlight challenges for those seeking to return to Ireland as well as outline successes of our work.

We also discussed our plans for the next six months and look forward to contributing to the next Diaspora Strategy too.

Thursday, 26th June 2025

Great meeting with Embassy of Ireland, Belgium this morning. Karen McHugh and Karen Bollen are pictured with James O’Brien, Consular Officer, and David Aşgin Walsh, Deputy Head of Mission. It was a good opportunity to talk about Safe Home Ireland's work as well as hear about the great work carried out by the Consular Service in Belgium.

Wednesday, 25th June 2025

Day 3 - Brussels

Another amazing day in Brussels with #ERMiNe - lots of useful presentations, interactive sessions, and networking opportunities. Great oversight on possible EU funds available and projects working to support returnees and global diaspora perspectives and engagement.

European Union Global Diaspora Facility—Ireland recently became a member of this network (in 2024), and was highlighted as one of the countries that supports its diaspora via the Emigrant Support Programme globally. Ireland is the only country with a dedicated Diaspora Strategy!

Tuesday, 24th June 2025

Another busy day for Safe Home Ireland! We were delighted to be invited by President Michael D. Higgins and Sabina Higgins to a Community Garden Party. A fabulous day!

Included in the pictures with President and Sabina Higgins are: Ann Lawler and Paul Reardon of 'Friends of Safe Home Ireland'; Johnny B. Broderick (our Information & Communications Officer); Ann Roddy (Board Director, Treasurer); and Vivienne Woodley of our Returned Emigrant Network.

Thank you President of Ireland / Uachtarán na hÉireann Michael D. Higgins.

Tuesday, 24th June 2025

Our own johnny b broderick (John Broderick) had the honour of sitting with President of Ireland / Uachtarán na hÉireann Michael D. Higgins at a Community Garden Party.

Last Friday, Christy Moore released a tribute to Michael D with beautiful words by johnny b called 'Music to our ears', set to music by Gavin Murphy.

Why not check it out here? https://youtu.be/aGy3Zx_4cAE