Emigration ripping Ireland apart says leading cleric - SEE POLL

It is tragic to see the enormous numbers of young people emigrating, but when the Irish economy boomed there were also serious social implication which Fr. Bohan seems not to have noticed. When the Celtic Tiger roared and Irish people went abroad they got above themselves - many young people on holidays in foreign countries lost the run of themselves, drank to excess and generally became obnoxious in the behaviour. Spoilt sons and daughters who had not earned the money they were squandering, but were handed it by their over-indulgent parents. Similar patterns of conducting themselves were evident in Ireland and no matter what the conduct the parents were unwilling to recognize the reality and discipline their wayward offspring. Even the parents misbehaved, many became as obnoxious as their children at the checkout in supermarkets/stores, treating the staff at the till with contempt. But after the economy collapsed some of these same parents tried to gain employment working at the store tills - a job on which they looked down when all things were rosy in the garden. As the Bible says, " Pride goes before destruction and a haughty before a fall ". And what a fall Ireland had! Another sad aspect of the Celtic Tiger economic boom, it wasn't grounded in sound economic principles - the economy was built on a foundation of balloons because the Celtic Tiger was a myth, it was a con-trick, an illusion.

A different perspective: Ireland is tiny...yes, folks, very small, and doesn't need overpopulation which it can't sustain. Once that sinks in, then think about being a prosperous small country that furnishes the world with great young people who do well everywhere. If they all stayed you would be paved over in a decade.

I think that it would be lovely if they could allow some people from these places to balance that out and more to Ireland if we met criteria that were a bit more fair. It's easier to move to Ireland if you're from anyplace other than the USA yet so many are allowed to come here. Just a thought.

Don't believe that is true Bishop. You quickly get very used to a higher standard of living and it is often hard to return.We came to the US for two years and we are still here after ten. We love the school system here, the facilities for sports and the opportunities for our children.The teenagers are all involved in sports and kept busy and active most of the time. We returned home briefly during the Celtic tiger years and our children were in portacabins at their school in what was a very affluent town. On another attempt home with a good job on offer, we were left without a school place for two of our teenage children within a ten mile radius of our house including the local secondary school.It was shameful and many people were shocked beyond belief when we arrived back in NJ that this could really happen in this day and age and this occurrence was before the collapse of the economy.

Its shameful.But I can understand why they leave.There's no point wallowing at home getting depressed,turning to alcohol or drugs or God forbid commiting suicide.

While this is sad and evokes painful memories of the period during which Ireland's major export was its young people, it is different from the 1920s. Once the Irish economy reopens--and we pray it will soon-- they can and will want to return. Meanwhile, their remittances back home will make a huge difference.