Effect of Irish brain drain plague - Heartbroken mother says goodbye to her daughter

Just read a sad article regarding the amount of depression and suicide facing the young Irish in New York City. It is the worst of all decisions - to live in between. I feel the pain of immigrants and wish it were not so. If only their countries could let them have the choice to stay put. I have lived all over this country and did so because of work. There was not an ocean of separation; it was just a lot of country. Saddest Christmas of all - entire family in the East and there I was, alone in Los Angeles. So what did I do: I voluteered to vist Nursing homes on that day and felt it was the best of all solutions - I brought a little bit of distraction to people who had no one. I was fortunate to get involved with an organization that brought good people together, we made gifts, which was an enjoyable get-together and then on Christmas Day, we delivered them. We were rewarded with a wonderful dinner. Then the lonliness came back but it was a bit tempered. Reality, what a concept, as Robin Williams put it!

But get this: something that many emigrating to Australia and Canada etc forget… and, I think, the Irish Govt forgets too... is that while lots of Mary McCarthy-like parents in Ireland grieve for the young ones who leave for places like Oz and Canada, they might also remind themselves that visas only last a year (two yrs for Canada now), so many will be returning home, like another son of mine did from Australia, only to be Jobless again. But for me, it’s great to have him home again!

Ah give off you people belittling this truly sad story! It’s true to suffer these feelings when your daughter or son leaves for foreign lands, perhaps never to return, as many an American, Canadian, British and Australian mother and father did when their offspring went off to a job in Afghanistan, Iraq and other places. Out of Ireland, one of my sons went off on a ‘round-the-world’ trip during the Irish Celtic Boom yrs, got half-way around, met a wonderful Ozzie woman, married and had family with her. He’s not coming home, now that he has his own family in Oz. I miss him dearly, despite our visits to each other.

i know the feeling,i have a son and daughter out in AUSTRALIA,miss them so bad but want them to have a future,the people who have brought about this situation by greed and exploitation should be held to account.and bringing in imigrents while our children are forced to emigrate is a madness.

chill already!!!

Will: By "Ireland" you mean the 'independent' Irish State, not the whole country? Your'r right about "every man for himself". Almost a century also, Sinn Féin was by far the strongest political party in all of Ireland, now there are few Sinn Féiners there, but the place is full of Mé Féiners.

While it's understandable any parent would be upset to see their children leaving there is always another side to it. At least Mrs McCarthy's daughter will no longer be living in the Republic of Botched. With any luck wherever she ends up won't be totally dominated by headless chicken, monkey see, monkey do, Irish gombeen men. People are leaving this country in some cases because they have to and in many cases because they can't wait to get out. In Ireland were it not for family and friends and the familiarity of the place versus the unknowns of others, there is literally no good reason to stay here. That's why Ireland is marked by a kind of every man for himself gang culture. Anyone who can milks the system for all they can. If you're not milking the system then the system is milking you. The only other alternative is to leave as a great deal of talent and intelligence has, with a few exceptions, since 1922.

Letting go of ones children is always painful, since they constitute a large swaith of your own lives. But letting go emotionally is as important as cutting the umbilical cord originally. Birds actually eject their young out of the nest to learn how to fly. Whilst I welcome voluntary [im]migration into Ireland, I resent net voluntary outward [e]migration out of Ireland. Census of Ireland, 2011 reported 15% unemployment and 20% immigration in Ireland (26 counties of) - equalling 5% surplus immigration accoring to my calculations. Regretably, successive Irish governments have convinced their frightened electorates to surrender their sovereignty to a fe[d]eral Europe, because the Irish middle classes have more in common with a European middle claass than they do with their Irish working class. (Or in this context, their Irish not-working class).

EphraimKibbey--"Ireland, cradle to the WORLD!" Well said, given the huge numbers of foreign babies that are born every day in Ireland.

Irishcoffeekid: I have complained to Irish Cntral about your threat. Abuse and intimidation do not constitute an acceptable part of any discourse or dialog.

woundedknee you need a smack on the back of the head. you might not give a crap about what some parents are going through but show some respect for those who dont think its a great thing - idiots like you should do us a favor and dont bother comment if you dont have anything useful to say - your post is rubbish!

Ireland, cradle to the WORLD!

Wnen I left Ireland, I left all of that country,including it's NE region, at the same time. Three years later - while still a citizen of the whole Irish nation- I was in the Marine Corops and assigned to a U.S. military base in the Philippines. When I left the U.S. I left all of that country at one time. Then in 2009 my wife and I visited Ireland, including Co. Down - no need to to make separate trips from the U.S. to different parts of Ireland. But Murph46 seems to have left diffferent parts of that country on separate occasions. Wharever the experiences of other emigrants who left Ireland, the separation of Mrs McCarthy from her bright young daughter is very sad, indeed!

that's what one gets for looking out the window at the rain instead of marching on the sharks that hit on high places.

I can only speak for myself of course but it devastated my parents when I left, as well as my younger brother and I had a very hard time adjusting abroad for many years. It was really hard on everyone. This is devastating to many families and those who make light of this should not...it's very sad.