The immediate response from the Irish Government was favourable, but they were to wait for three years before learning that their journey had been in vain. As Ambrose Woods later noted in 1952: "Help may never come from Dublin!". Apart from what may have been an excuse that no request had previously been received, Taoiseach John Costello showed his surprise that there were, in fact, so many Irishmen and women arriving in London. He also felt that there would be a difficulty in allocating funds because there was no budget for this. Another difficulty, he asserted, "Would be to avoid giving the impression that the government favoured emigration". This did not deter the Irish Priests' Committee. An executive was formed in 1953 to take the project forward. Its officers included four priests, with Michael Carey as Chairman, Tom McNamara and Bernard Manning as Joint Treasurers and Ambrose Woods as Secretary. They were joined by four lay people who were regarded as having the appropriate skills: Lawrie Arnold as Legal Adviser, who had held a legal position with the Water Board, Jack Steacey, a retired director of Monsanto Chemicals, James Conway, a builder who was the owner of the Emerald Dance Hall in Hammersmith, and James McGill. A building contractor, Stephen Hussey, was co-opted in November 1954. All shared a pledge to convert an appropriate building, when they found one, to implement the original aims of Ambrose Woods' wish-list. Led by the limitless energy of Ambrose Woods, this team then commenced the search for a suitable property.