Ireland’s brain drain at record level - one Irish person leaves home every five minutes

Smart economy?? Its pure thick! Unqualified personnel teaching in our schools, lack of educational psychologists (4th lowest in Europe 6 years ago and still...) vast failure rates in higher math, inability to speak european languages etc..

Bobby – Thanks for that very useful link…but I think you’ve misinterpreted some figures…The 56K would be mainly accounted for by young Irish school and college leavers, rather than returning emigrants – who would only have to reactivate a PPS number already allocated…also the figures are only for the first 8 months of the year…meaning they need to be uplifted by 50% to arrive at an annual figure.

Anyone with two brain sells still working and not living on handouts have already left and you can stuff your Gathering B/S up you know where

Making room for the 2013 Gathering - Shatter and his charges are a joy from afar. The Royals are needed for next years great craic.

Nothing new here. Happened in every generation. I saw my brothers and sisters leave in the fifties and early sixties. I left in the late sixties. Other after me left in the seventies and eighties. It's our lot in life. I had the opportunity to come home to a good job years ago but I refused; I knew the wheel would turn again. It really is a shame.

"Some 52,700 immigrants came to Ireland in the same twelve month period". I don't believe these figures, as the Irish are not competent to keep track of immigration numbers. If someone doesn't register s/he is not counted. Ditto for children, parents of migrants who are arriving in ever greater numbers etc. But even accepting this low-ball figure, that's a thousand foreign migrants arriving every week! Ireland isn't facing DEpopulation, it's in a process of REpopulation. Out with the old (Irish), in with the New ("Irish")!

The best thing about Ireland: the airport. I don't know anyone in college these days who is not intending to get out as soon as they pass their exams. It's even more remarkable to hear children in their early teens on the bus talking about which countries they might have to move to in the future.

Personal Public Service Numbers -Allocation By Nationality-All Countries 2012 in Ireland. 104,175 came to Ireland from all over the world including 56,139 Irish nationals returning home in 2012. Here is a link from an Irish government website with all immigrants that came to Ireland last year. welfare.ie/EN/Topics/PPSN/Pages/ppsn_all_month12.aspx

And as i said before, i watched a programme on Irish TV last night they say over 50% of those leaving had a job in Ireland and choose to leave. Be with their friends in Australia. Enjoy life there. Most say they will return in a couple of years.