Irish Immigrants were discrimminated against during the Victorian Era. They were thought as incompetent and criticized throughout the novel by Gaskell. There is energy, power and courage in the struggle of the Irish immigrants to provide themselves a better life. The Irish were brought in after a workers strike in the novel and provided cheap labor for the mill. The Irish have been the largest source of immigrants to Britian. They immigrated to England to escape famine in their homeland of Ireland. "The Great Famine" was one of many famines in the nineteenth century and the British did little to help Ireland in those times of need. In Gaskell novel, North and South, the main theme is the mediation from the two classes of upper and lower and to consider the ways in which they are connected. And also taking a first-hand look into the lack of responsibility and freedom Industry employers gave their workers. Industrialism was growing and with Irish immigrants the mills and factories could keep going during the time of strikes in England. The importance of the Irish in the novel is to show the Anti-Irish prejudice in the Victorian Era.  The Irish were "immature" and in need of guidance by others, more highly developed than themselves. Irish "emotion" was contrasted, unfavorably, with English "reason", Irish "femininity" with English "masculine" virtues, Irish "poetic" attributes with English "pragmatism". These were all arguments which conveniently supported British rule in Ireland. (Wohl, victorianweb.org). With that being said, the British failed to consider the courage and faith it took for Irish people to leave their own country and start anew in England. During all this discrimination, the Irish continued to take jobs and fight in their home country for equality and make arrangements to improve economic and social reformation. Gaskell's novel offers detailed observations of industrialism, urbanism, class, and gender conflicts. She advocates for a type of industrialism that allows the workers and owners to see eye to eye, with no one being more valuable than the other. In most ways she turns into a mediator during difficult relations with workers and employers.