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

Home Page > News > Irish leader deeply regrets massive emigration of young people

Irish leader deeply regrets massive emigration of young people

JAMES O'SHEA,

IrishCentral.com Staff Writer

Published Saturday, December 24, 2011, 8:41 AM

Updated Saturday, December 24, 2011, 9:07 AM

Larger Text

E-mail

13 Comments

Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny

Photo by Thierry Charlier AP

Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny has stated that he deeply regrets that thousands of young people have to emigrate.

He was speaking to the Irish media in an end of year interview.

"I don't like to see people having to go away," said Kenny. "This is something that I have seen as a child on so many occasions. Where I come from emigration was endemic unfortunately because of the economic crisis."

Kenny grew up in rural County Mayo during the 1950s when emigration was rampant.

He says people must realize that hard choices lie ahead.

___________________

Emigrant Irish flock back home as Christmas day approaches

Finding loved ones before Christmas after decades apart

How the Pogues ‘Fairytale of New York’ almost wasn't made - SEE VIDEO
__________________

"Nobody's going to walk in here and say, 'I'll fix this for you'," Kenny said. "It's only going to get worse unless we deal with it and the choices are unpalatable. But I find genuinely from talking to people they know this and in many ways, the public are ahead of the political process."

He said the previous government had failed to make use of so many talented young people.

"I really feel that we've wasted so many years and wasted so much money on not actually focusing on how best we could deliver what we have," said Kenny.

"My preference, obviously, is to have a situation where they can have jobs and careers here, but young people always want to be where the action is," he said.

Job creation, Kenny said, was the only way to tackle the long-term problem of emigration.

Nster.com

E-mail

13 Comments

See all comments

Curitiba | Dec 28, 2011, 10:49 AM EST

Hear, hear CaptainCon. There are far more of us than there are of them and we should have a greater say in what goes on there.

Report abuse

CaptainCon | Dec 27, 2011, 07:28 AM EST

ciaradexy, the suggestion is that the diaspora who hold an Irish passport would vote in Irish elections for a certain amount of years after they emigrate. That was actually a proposal in the current government's election manifesto. At the moment the majority of people who vote in Irish elections are exactly what the main parties want- island-bound and fearful of any real change. If the Irish Government has its begging bowl out to the diaspora then the diaspora should be bright enough to demand the vote in return. You get nothing for nothing in this world and it is about time the diaspora flexed its muscle instead of having the piss taken out of it by half-damp political rockmonkeys at home. The diaspora means money in Ireland and that should mean power.

Report abuse

Gaelphoncán | Dec 27, 2011, 07:22 AM EST

Póg mo thiarpa imircigh Ghaelach, a Chiara Dexy, – mo náire agus is mo naoi náire ar an tseafóid fhrithdhiaspórach chaolaigeanta a scríobhann tú! Is Gael mé atá thar lear toisc nárbh fhéidir liom obair a fháil in Éirinn. Chaill mé deiseanna ar roinnt post mar gheall ar an gcairdeas fabhair a bhfuil Inis Fáil lofa leis (faraoir). Is léir nach mbeadh barúil ar bith agat cé chomh deacair is atá sé ag fear a bhean is a thír a fhágáil mar gheall ar fhiacha agus ar easpa airgid. An dtugann tú féin tacaíocht do na Léinteacha Gorma? Bí cinnte de nach mbeinn féin ag vótáil dóibh siúd dá mbeadh an deis agam mo vóta a chaitheamh thar lear (ná d'Fhianna Fabhair ná do Pháirtí an Lucht Oibre ach an oiread – lucht oibre, mar dhea). Do bharúil nach rachadh reifreann i bhfeidhm ar Éireannaigh a chuaigh ar imirce? Éirigh as do bhuinneachántacht scríofa, a bhean, agus oscail d'aigne chaol! An féidir leat a bheith cinnte nach mbeidh ort féin dul ar imirce la éigin? Seans go n-athrófá do phort frithdhiaspórach ansin, a bhogásóg na buinní...

Report abuse

ciaradexy | Dec 26, 2011, 09:40 PM EST

Awoken 32-Fine Gael arent responsible for it as theyre not even in power a year!

Report abuse

ciaradexy | Dec 26, 2011, 04:50 PM EST

CaptainCon, If irish abroad were allowed vote, then we'd have all these plastic Paddys with Irish passports voting in elections and referenda that do not affect them! Its the only positive to the voting situation.

Report abuse

awoken32 | Dec 26, 2011, 10:12 AM EST

fianna fail an fianna gael are responceable for our youth having to leave their country an all the time they are importing massses of illegal immigrants into the country to take up jobs,working for buttons,enda kenny bertie ahern biffo an the likes couldnt care less,them and their kids are all living comfortably,after fleecing this country and betraying their people,they all should be brought before the courts

Report abuse

CaptainCon | Dec 26, 2011, 06:37 AM EST

One thing of note from news elsewhere this morning and of interest to the Irish Diaspora is that the Republic of France is granting the electoral vote to its citizens living overseas with the formation of 11 new 'foreign constituencies'. Citizens of the Republic of France living overseas will be able to vote in French elections. Irish Citizens living abroad should DEMAND (not 'ask') but DEMAND the same. One of the reasons for the continuance of the gombeen patronage style no-mark government in Ireland is because of its ability to export many voters and effectively disenfranchise them. Surely all of the current wave of the Diaspora should now end this and demand their right to drag Ireland out of its continually repeated dullard existence dominated by the lowest of the low common denominators- the gombeen man and his patronage system sitting on the pot at home.

Report abuse

CaptainCon | Dec 26, 2011, 06:28 AM EST

There is a lot to be said for SeamusMor's suggestion below and I would go further than Stephen1553 in that I would confiscate all church lands and property on the basis that none of it was bought by Rome but all of it was fraudulently extracted from the Irish people. There is still a tiny percentage of the Irish population who own most assets, control all private property and have control over the public income stream extracted in the form of taxes and who spend much of their time exercising patronage. A real Republic would be a good idea and not the fake Republic diverted by De Valera and co; into a form of Home Rule for the gombeen man.

Report abuse

stephen1553 | Dec 25, 2011, 02:10 AM EST

Time to stop spending money on your church of the endless hidden molestation of children. And put it into both real human capital - secular education and creating loans so people can start more businesses and employ more people.

Report abuse

SeamusMor | Dec 25, 2011, 02:03 AM EST

I'll fix this for you. Replace the Republic with a Democracy. Cancel all debts in euros. Float a new currency. Define the amounts to be disbursed from tax revenues for the administration of government, courts, security, education, health, and social entitlements as a percentage of the total, not a fixed monetary amount. Ireland would then live as she should, in dignity and within her means. Have the Pope or better, the People, declare a "Jubilee" and cancel all debts. It would be a big "tax" on accumulated profits of the bankers, who in spite of warning that doing so would be the end of the world, would once more greedily fall over themselves to get our deposits, and start over with the slate wiped clean. It's time for a revolution!

Report abuse

JOHNTOBIN | Dec 24, 2011, 08:08 PM EST

Is not this much the story of Ireland since the foundation of the Free State?

Report abuse

merefalow | Dec 24, 2011, 03:45 PM EST

so why are strangers flooding in when our own are flooding out,open borders are bloody stupid,

Report abuse

LoyalCitizen | Dec 24, 2011, 12:04 PM EST

"Job creation".........This usually means they are going to finance any pretentious corporations, especially American that they can find and keep the Irish as navvies..........The Irish can work for someone but never compete with them.......It seems more practical that they make available lots of money for Irish start up companies and let the Irish get experience of working for themselves.

Report abuse