NEW YORK BOSTON |#Popular: Irish Celebrity Gossip Irish in US Politics Irish Festivals Irish Roots Irish Entertainment Offbeat Irish

Home Page > News > Ireland's Deputy Prime Minister says emigration is a good thing

Ireland's Deputy Prime Minister says emigration is a good thing

DONAL THORNTON,

IrishCentral.com Staff Writer

Published Wednesday, February 17, 2010, 7:48 AM

Updated Monday, March 8, 2010, 4:34 PM

Larger Text

E-mail

8 Comments

Tanaiste Mary Coughlsn

Ireland's Tánaiste (Deputy Prime Minister) Mary Coughlan has come under heavy criticism, after stating on British television that emigration in Ireland was a legitimate response to the current economic hardship there.

“Since when has it been a good thing to be exporting our best and brightest who have had an education that we have paid for and who won't be working at home,” questioned Fine Gael TC Pascal Donohoe.

Coughlan also said that emigration was used as a means for young people to discover the world and enjoy themselves.

Donohoe hit back saying, "Well, I challenge the Tánaiste to go to any of these airports from which our young people are leaving and find people who are enjoying themselves as they leave the country in which they were born.

"Emigration is not an entitlement. It's not about enjoyment. It's about the fact we have 20,000 young people in Dublin under the age of 25 who are signing on.

"It's about the fact that two thirds of young people in Limerick are signing on to the dole. It's a catastrophe. It’s not a policy."

Nster.com

E-mail

8 Comments

See all comments

GPJ1970 | Jun 05, 2010, 03:01 AM EDT

The Tanaiste is partly correct,emmigration from Ireland is beneficial, too the nations these immigrants settle in. I graduated in 1989 I attended an Irish University. Only two out of the one hundred graduates ( from my course ) had already found work. The rest relied on, further education family, friends or non graduate work. I assume the majority emmigrated. Ireland has one of the largest under 21 poulations in Europe, why does the Taniste want another wave of emmigration or has this administration finally admitted that they have not planned to care for the future of its citizens. The

Report abuse

Downunderyan | Feb 18, 2010, 06:05 AM EST

I am a very proud Irishman living in Australia. Ireland didn't want my wife and I (both tertiary educated) and 2 babies in the 1970's so we emigrated. They didn't want us back when we tried to return with our teenagers in 1990 and couldn't hasten us back out of the country fast enough. We were insulted by visiting Irish Government Minister Noel Dempsey in the 1990's when he declared to us emigrees that we were all mad Republican supporters and wouldn't support our claim for Votes For Emigrants. It's dull, lazy Fianna Fail politicians like Mary Coughlan that have brought Ireland down to the mire with their wasteful practices in government. I say kick the politicians out of the country and make them fend for themselves on the world market. Trouble is, outside of their comfort zone they'd perish and anyway, no other country would accept them as they have no useful skills to contribute to any other country.

Report abuse

Watchman | Feb 17, 2010, 04:23 PM EST

The world does not exist to act as a safety valve for the Irish economy. If the US sent its millions of workless overseas, there would be chaos. It would be unworkable. Ireland thinks it can get away with because it's small and the numbers are bearable. But that isn't the point. If the Irish economy is ever to grow up, it has to learn to take responsibility for its mistakes. Every Irishman or woman who turns up in the US or UK looking for a job is denying that job to an American or Briton. Why should the US or Britain look fondly on that? When the Celtic Tiger was roaring, we were advertising for our "sons and daughters" to come home to help build a new Ireland. Now that the Tiger's dead, we're kicking them all out again. Have we no sense of national pride? And how are we ever going to build a better country if we can't even take care of our own? If we don't even try?

Report abuse

jacersisityourself | Feb 17, 2010, 02:56 PM EST

Yep, I agree with Mary. When things were tough for me and my young family in the '80s I was sent abroad to work. It was the best thing I did: I gained massive work experience over 10 years, a broader business education, a look at how other countries' peoples live, think and interact. Working and travelling abroad is an exceptional education for your lifetime and I encourage it strongly. Many Irish employers look to young people who have used their gap year to travel and work abroad because they know these potential employees are better balanced than stick-at-home no-outlook ones.

Report abuse

jacersisityourself | Feb 17, 2010, 02:52 PM EST

I got a good laugh out of Chris' post re politicians; he's right... at the head of the queue I would put Inda Kinny, ‘Aimin nowhere’ Gilmore, and ‘gormless’ Gormley... they all need a good world education before they could be trusted to run our country in good times, never mind bad times. The economies of the world’s countries wave up and down – some have good crests and need immigrant workers (as we did in when we had a crest) and others need us when their crest arrives. When you’re in a trough, there’s only one way to go and that’s up, which we’ll do in time.

Report abuse

jacersisityourself | Feb 17, 2010, 02:51 PM EST

I don’t agree with Watchman’s post. Unemployed young people are that way precisely because there aren’t enough jobs around for them and without work they can’t gain experience. Jobs go only when a company can’t sustain employment or even its business. Young people have to go elsewhere. It is far better that they be abroad and working while picking up a lifetime’s broader education. We’ll be delighted to see them come home (and they will be delighted to be back) when things improve.

Report abuse

ChrisButler9999 | Feb 17, 2010, 11:19 AM EST

I just wish they would take the politicians with them. Things might improve.

Report abuse

Watchman | Feb 17, 2010, 11:11 AM EST

Pascal Donohoe is right. Ireland cannot simply export its unemployed, recalling them when times are good and encouraging them to get the hell out when things get tough. That is tantamount to saying that other countries should shoulder our burdens, not us. No wonder the country's going to Hell.

Report abuse