From the derogatory remarks made about the Irish Diaspora who fled the Famine (1845-1851) to the tensions surrounding the Northern Irish Troubles in the late twentieth century, the Irish in Britain have encountered significant social shame. The common use of the phrase ‘No Irish Need Apply’ in job advertisements historically, both in Britain and America, highlights the prejudice faced by the Irish working class that emigrated in search of employment. This paper will give a brief historical overview of the social shaming faced by the Irish in Britain. Then, through an examination of the activities of the London-Irish feminist community, part of what has been described as an 'alternative Irish community', it will consider Irish Diasporic groups who have harnessed the freedoms afforded them in Britain to challenge the overt containment of female sexuality on the island of Ireland itself.

In particular, the paper will focus on the pro-choice activism of the London-Irish community in countering the severe anti-choice laws in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. It will firstly outline the work of Irish Women’s Abortion Support Group (IWASG). From the early 1980s until 2000 IWASG helped women traveling from across the island of Ireland to access safe and legal abortions denied to them at home. It will then move on to the strategies of resistance used by the direct action feminist performance group, Speaking of I.M.E.L.D.A. (Speaking of Ireland Making England the Legal Destination for Abortion). It will argue that the strategies of resistance deployed by Speaking of I.M.E.L.D.A. in countering the shaming and silencing of those who have had abortions, in turn, work against the reproduction of shamed subjectivities.