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"There has been cross-pollination between Leeds and Ireland for 500 years but the first major sweep into the city from Ireland was during and after the years of the famine (c1845-51).

"Irish people continued to arrive in Leeds, with peaks around World War II (1939-45) to work in the munition factories, latterly in an economic migration during the 1950s to 1980s.

"Traditionally many people in Leeds have arrived from County Mayo, although there will be people in the city from every county in Ireland. Counting first, second and third generation it has been estimated there are around 20,000 people in Leeds with an Irish connection.

"Many of the first Irish immigrants in the 19th century first worked in agriculture on the Yorkshire farms. Then, as the railway and canal networks were growing, many Irish people found work as 'navvies' or labourers. The construction was hard work and not many people were prepared to do it so the Irish workers often filled that need.

"In Leeds many Irish people originally lived in the area known as Bank or 'Ham Shank' it was around the Mount St Mary's church at Richmond Hill and close to the River Aire in the east of the city. By the 1950s and 1960s many Irish families lived in the Harehills area.

Chris is spreading Irish music and arts

"I think the community found the people of Yorkshire particularly friendly. By and large I don't think Leeds had quite the edge that Birmingham or London maybe did if you were Irish. It could be said that anti-Irish feeling was not as bad here during the 'Troubles 'of the 1970s and 1980s.

"Gradually the community has dispersed across Leeds spreading further out to Moortown, Rounhay, Rothwell and Beeston. The is still an Irish identity in Harehills but it is now an ageing community. Many of the people who came to Leeds in the 1960s are now retiring and some have gone back home to Ireland. My own parents (from Mayo and Donegal) have gone back.

"Music, dance and literature are important to the Irish culture and, for a country of about four million people, Ireland punches above its weight on the world stage. Irish music as a genre is seen as quite accessible and there is a perception that it's music you can join in with. It is a 'folk' music with many different strands and a lot of cross-pollination with English music.

"The IAF'S remit is to push Irish music, arts and culture throughout Britain and any increase in cultural provision has far-reaching benefits for the whole of the community.

"The IAF is hoping to start an archive of the Irish music scene, whoever it involved, in Leeds. There is a need to record this because there are now far fewer pubs and clubs with regular session nights. We need to record it before the memory of the scene is  lost, Leeds' traditional music sessions have largely evaporated."