icap was founded by psychotherapist Teresa Gallagher. Teresa came to London in 1992 for post-graduate study in Psychotherapy and identified a glaring gap in the provision of any established culturally sensitive counselling for people of Irish origin. The Irish had the worst history of mental health problems in the UK, and it was clear to Teresa that a service to help them was clearly needed.
Survivors of childhood abuse and institutional abuse and trauma had moved to Britain in significant numbers, and still suffered from their experiences. In the early 2000s, the Irish government finally acknowledged the impact of the horrific abuse experienced by generations of children in Ireland's austere network of industrial schools, reformatories, orphanages and hostels from the 1930s until the 1990s. The Irish government set aside funding to pay for counselling for the survivors of these terrible experiences. icap is one of the organisations receiving this money and helping the victims to re-build their lives.
Many older Irish people who arrived in the UK in the 1950s and 1960s had moved from a poor country with few employment prospects, hoping to improve their situation. Some, however, didn’t do so well economically in Britain, and began to feel isolated and stranded here as the Irish economy boomed during the first decade of the new millennium.
Meanwhile, numerous younger Irish people now arriving in the UK are highly educated and starting off in well paid careers. But Ireland is a country where family and local community ties are still very strong, and losing these ties can lead to mental distress.
Teresa recognised that the Irish and some other ethnic minority groups were reluctant to use statutory services, because they felt that these services did not cater for their specific needs. It was clear to Teresa that an independent professional service was required - and thus the vision of icap was born.
Setting up icap was a struggle. Lack of awareness within the statutory and funding bodies made the acquisition of funding almost impossible. By lobbying, meeting with relevant bodies and gaining the generous support of clinicians and volunteers, icap finally became established as a charity in 1992.
Four years later, icap was officially opened by the President of Ireland, Mary Mc Aleese.
icap’s remit has since expanded to include the provision of counselling to immigrants of all nationalities.