Ambrose Woods invited Irish priests to support a scheme In 1948, a number of individual priests and lay people had been working together towards a Plan - "a concrete scheme" - to alleviate the problems of emigrants. Ambrose Woods wrote to a Fr Carroll on 29 February to invite him to a meeting on 3 March. He says "Many people write to the papers about the Irish in England. It is felt that if anything special is to be done, we ourselves, Irish priests, are in the best position to do it. A concrete scheme has been suggested to deal, in part, with the problems of our people in London". The Leap Year date of 29 February may have been a good omen, because the meeting was a success. A letter followed it to Cardinal Bernard Griffin, the Archbishop of Westminster, in which Ambrose Woods wrote, "That in addition to the ordinary ministrations of priests in their parishes very much more could be done, and that special needs were apparent, and that these required a special approach". Cardinal Griffin responded, inviting Ambrose Woods and Fr Michael Carey to meet him on 16 March. The Plan was now advancing rapidly. Further contacts and alliances among priests were made. Draft memos were sent, in which the situation of "Irish workers in London" were fully analysed. As a result of pressure from Ambrose Woods and others, a conference of between fifty and sixty priests, principally from the three London dioceses of Westminster, Southwark and Brentwood, was held in Westminster Cathedral Hall on 23 March 1948 in order to consider how this growing problem should be addressed. Chaired by Fr Michael Carey, the Irish Priests' Committee, as it became known, drew up a prospectus for what they were looking for in terms of a house of welcome for emigrants near to Euston or to Paddington Station. In the form of a wish-list, it also described the various elements desired, including a welfare or advice bureau, temporary hostel accommodation, a large hall, a canteen and lounge. Surprisingly, a chapel was not included.