RSS
News


Home Page > News > Irish continue to flock to US immigration figures show

Irish continue to flock to US immigration figures show

New York, California and Massachusetts most popular destinations

By
HILDA HIGGINS,
IrishCentral Staff Writer
Published Tuesday, December 27, 2011, 7:06 AM
Updated Tuesday, December 27, 2011, 7:44 AM

print this article Print
email this articleE-mail
comment on article 17 Comments
See more: Irish immigration  

Irish continue to flock to US new figures show
Irish continue to flock to US new figures show
Photo by bloomberg.com


Over 14,000 Irish people emigrated to the U.S. during 2010, an increase of seven percent on the previous year, reports the Irish Independent.

Almost 70,000 Irish workers left Irish shores during 2010, the majority moving to Britian, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the U.S. and Germany. This represented an almost 50 percent surge, up from the 46,0000 who emigrated in 2009.

The U.S. attracted 14,288 workers from Ireland, with the majority being on temporary work permits. New York, California and Massachusetts continue to be the most popular destination for Irish emigrants.
___________________________________
Read More:
Irish emigrants in New York tell of missing home at Christmas

Emigrant Irish flock back home as Christmas day approaches

Top ten Celtic influences on Christmas traditions and roots
____________________________________

Some 1,500 Irish citizens became permanent U.S. residents in 2010, a fifth of whom were new arrivals to the country.

The figures were released by the Irish Independent as part of their investigation into the continuing wave of emigrants leaving Irish shores.

Over 16,000 people made the move to Britain in search of work in the UK 2010/11 tax year. Figures from the UK Department of Work and Pensions show that over 300 Irish people per week applied for national insurance numbers to allow them to work, during 2011. The vast majority of applicants were aged 18 to 34.

The department reported the increase was because: "the Irish economy has recently experienced one of the sharpest recessions in the eurozone".

Australia witnessed a 15 percent surge in arrival of Irish emigrants, with 27, 995 arriving during their 2010/11 tax year, the majority of whom were on work visas.

Over 3,000 Irish citizens applied for permanent residency in Oz during 2011, with almost 50 percent being new arrivals.

New Zealand attracted 4,586 Irish emigrants during the 2010/11 tax year, three times more than a decade ago. Between July and December of 2011, 2,100 were granted work visas.

In Canada, almost 4,000 Irish emigrants acquired work permits in the first six months of 2011, according to their latest Citizenship and Immigration statistics.

During 2010, 4,461 Irish people emigrated to Canada, an increase of 34 percent on 2009.

In Germany, unpublished government statistics show that 1,426 Irish people emigrated there in 2010, a 16 percent increase on the previous year.

​
See more: Irish immigration , News from Ireland
print this article Print
email this articleE-mail


17 Comments

See all comments

Bythebay | Apr 12, 2012, 04:15 PM EDT
I walked into an Irish pub in Stockholm, Sweden and was served by a lad from Galway and another lad from Kerry went out to get more eggs for the Irish breakfasts. Sweden is an EU country.

Report abuse

LaoiseRyan | Dec 28, 2011, 02:11 PM EST
Yeah I know it. I lived in Rossport for a bit and have mates in Belmullet. I still dont know anyone there who has emigrated or whos parents have returned from abroad but then again Im only up there once a month or so.

Report abuse

Curitiba | Dec 28, 2011, 01:37 PM EST
Belmullet is the town to which I am referring.

Report abuse

LaoiseRyan | Dec 28, 2011, 01:14 PM EST
Sorry, I live in Louisburgh but Im from Clonakilty in West Cork.

Report abuse

LaoiseRyan | Dec 28, 2011, 12:54 PM EST
As I said, Im sure there are some but Im from Louisburgh in Mayo and I dont know of any here. I have no doubt that it may be a factor but the most common and popular visas were the Morrison and Donnelly

Report abuse

Curitiba | Dec 28, 2011, 12:34 PM EST
Sorry, LaoiseRyan, I don't want to labour the point, but Mayo is full of people with Irish accents who were born in the USA (and England). Their parents returned to Ireland when while the children were still young. You will find families where the siblings are born in different countries. One family I knew had 2 children born in the USA, 1 in England and 1 in Ireland. This kind of pattern is common amongst counties that suffered heavy emigration during the 1950's to 70's.I think a lot of Irish came back from the USA in the 70's to avoid being drafted in the Vietnam War.

Report abuse

LaoiseRyan | Dec 28, 2011, 10:36 AM EST
''why would they bother employing Irish when they can employ Latin Americans, who will work for less money.'' Because its the skilled Irish with sought after qualifications who are emigrating to countries where a visa is required and where jobs cant be filled by Americans. I dont know any Irish who have an American parent but obviously there are however this wasnt how people got into the US. In the 80s there were a couple of visa programmes which allowed the Irish to move to the US and work legally so I think you'll find this is how it was done. I think they were called the Morrison and Donnelly visas but I could be wrong. I know lots went over and worked illegally too.

Report abuse

Curitiba | Dec 28, 2011, 10:17 AM EST
I was just curious LaoiseRyan, as most Irish people in the recent past were only able to go to the US because either they, or one of their parents were born in the USA. The American visa system is certainly not straightforward like the Australian one, and why would they bother employing Irish when they can employ Latin Americans, who will work for less money. Many Irish (and others I have met) simply went on a tourist visa and bought a social security number from a bloke in an Irish bar, before being caught and deported, or simply wanting to return home permanently.

Report abuse

LaoiseRyan | Dec 28, 2011, 09:50 AM EST
Curitiba-How do you know they dont have visas? ''The U.S. attracted 14,288 workers from Ireland, with the majority being on temporary work permits. '' so maybe the rest were on migrant visas? I know a few nurses who moved there in the past few years. They got job offers and work visas no problem.

Report abuse

Curitiba | Dec 28, 2011, 07:48 AM EST
I don't understand. How are so many Irish people able to emigrate to the USA without visa? Last time I looked, New York is not in the European Union, so you can't just turn up to JFK and tell them you thought living in Queens sounded more glamorous than heading for Cricklewood Broadway in London.

Report abuse

joan1954 | Dec 27, 2011, 03:42 PM EST
hello simplesandy contact at jlizm@aol.com

Report abuse

JBRAFTREE | Dec 27, 2011, 02:53 PM EST
George, good one!! I was in East Galway in May and I had two seperate Polish Taxi drivers.

Report abuse

BrendanDunphy | Dec 27, 2011, 09:59 AM EST
I walked into an Irish Pub in NYC last night and an Irishmen served me my pint. I walked into an Irish Pub in Belfast last month and a Polishman served me my pint.

Report abuse

antoman | Dec 27, 2011, 09:49 AM EST
I'm glad it bothers you georgyboy. Tell your KKK friends I said hello.

Report abuse

GeorgeDillon | Dec 27, 2011, 09:43 AM EST
70.000 Irish left during last year? That's almost exactly equal to the number of foreign migrants who moved in to Ireland. So there's obviously no problem with depopulation. It's just REpopulation, the Irish are kindly making way for new stock. At this rate the final metamorphosis of Ireland should be achievable within maybe 15 years. Then All Hail to the Republic of Nova Irlandskaya! Or will it be ايرلندا? Or more likely आयरलैंड.

Report abuse



IrishCentral logo
"Like" IrishCentral
IrishCentral Mobile QR code


Connect to IrishCentral with your Facebook account

or Sign-Up directly

Already Registered? Sign-In!

Welcome to IrishCentral!
Please provide the following information in order to create your account

Username:
E-Mail Address:
Password:
Confirm Password:
I agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy


Already Registered? Sign-In!
Forgot my password

Welcome to IrishCentral!
All we need is the following information and you will be part of the #1 Irish community in the US

E-Mail Address:
First select a unique username:
Username:
Now choose a password:
Password:
Confirm Password:
I agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy
Thank you!

Just one more step and you will be part of the largest Irish community in America! Tell us a little more about you to start enjoying all the features of IrishCentral.

Additional Information:

First Name:
Last Name:
Date of Birth:
Zip:
Gender: Male  Female 
Country:
Degree of Irishness:
Household Income:
Level of Education:

Subscribe to our newsletters:

The Best of IrishCentral - Daily Newsletter
Special Offers from our sponsors

or
Skip

You can edit your information at any time, just go to "my account" when you're logged in.

Log into IrishCentral with your Facebook account

or sign-in directly

E-Mail:
Password:
 Remember me Forgot my password
Not a member? Register Now!
submit to reddit
print this article Print
email this articleE-mail