A whopping 46 percent of people in full time employment in Ireland are considering emigrating, according to the latest study.
Some 62 percent of people in gainful employment are unhappy with their career prospects in Ireland, according to to University College Cork’s EMIGRE project.
As part of the EMIGRE project, over 500 people were surveyed at the recent Working Abroad Expos held in Dublin and Cork. Almost three quarters of respondents said they were considering leaving Ireland in search of new job opportunities. Some 74 percent said they were likely to leave in the next six months.
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A close majority of respondents were over the age of 30 and 14 percent were over the age of 40.
Almost a quarter had mortgages in Ireland and children, suggesting that many families were thinking of moving away from Ireland. The majority of respondents had a third level degree or higher.
Central Statistics data has also revealed the immigration rate of Irish emigrants increased by over 350 percent between 2008 and 2012.
Dr. Piaras MacÉinrí, the EMIGRE project leader, highlighted the human dimension of the survey.
“Holding over 500 questionnaire returns, banal as they look, is a way of looking at over 500 lives.
“There is something infinitely poignant about many of these documents, charting, as they do, lives in transition,” said MacÉinrí.
“There were some very angry people, but a smaller number of hopeful and happy ones. Men in their later 40s, and even older, looking abroad, some for the first time. It seems many families who returned to Ireland in the good times are now leaving for a second time.”
The latest results are part of a larger project which is set to include household surveys in Ireland and extensive online surveys and interviews with Irish emigrants worldwide, due to be completed by September 2013. To take part in the survey click here.
The EMIGRE project is funded by the Irish Research Council and hosted by the Department of Geography in UCC, along with the Institute for the Social Sciences in the 21st Century.
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Switch to the desktop site to post a comment.Barry | Mar 10, 2013, 10:39 AM EDT
@pmaceinri: Like you, Im appalled by some of the comments below regarding immigration to Ireland. Unfortunately, it's quite common on this website and among the general public. Many people are convinced that all foreigners in Ireland are here to sponge off the state. Very, very sad.
maceinri | Mar 10, 2013, 01:16 AM EST
I live in Ireland. I am genuinely dismayed to read stuff like this, it is simply not true. People who post this kind of stuff never cite the evidence for their claims and hide behind behind false names. Please have the courage to say who you are and cite your evidence. That's all I ask.
Smyrnian | Mar 09, 2013, 07:21 PM EST
Mace - I have seen it with my own eyes; kids having kids, no father in sight, nice 3 bedroom house for free, children's allowance, allowance for this and that and cheques for everything and never an honest days work done; Irish natives and immigrants alike. Don't give me your liberal banter. I see it every day. It's disgusting to see it.
maceinri | Mar 09, 2013, 05:39 PM EST
Please deal with facts. This stuff is racist fantasy. It has no basis whatever in fact. This kind of nonsense makes a mockery of the entire idea of citizen journalism/media comment. Gobtshites like you can claim anything you want, with no obligation to cite any kind of facts. Take a walk.
STEVENSTAR | Mar 09, 2013, 05:09 PM EST
YES THEY ARE AN EDUCATED LOT WHO LEAVE IRELAND TO FIND WORK .. BECAUSE IF YOUR IRISH AND YOU GOTO AMERICA OR AUSTRALIA THEY DONT GIVE YOU ANY FREE WELFARE OR FREE HOUSING ETC. WHICH IS ALOT MORE THEN I CAN SAY FOR ALL THE 100S OF THOUSANDS OF IMMIGRANTS WHO COME TO IRELAND FROM EASTERN EUROPE POLAND ROMANIA BULGARIA ETC ETC .. WE'RE NOT GETTING THE DOCTORS LAWYERS DENTISTS COMING OVER HERE WE'RE GETTING ALL THE LOW LIFES WHO NO PROSPECTS WHO LIVE OFF OUR WELFARE SYSTEMS AND CLAIM 3 TIMES HERE WHAT THEY GET BACK HOME...IM TALKING ABOUT WHOLE FAMILES GRANNIES PARENTS KIDS THE LOT.. AND THEY WONDER WHY WE ARE BILLIONS IN DEBT .. YA SURE THEY ARE HARD WORKERS ILL AGREE THAT BUT THERE ARE STILL HUGE AMOUNTS OF THEM ON WELFARE .. COME HERE TO WORK BUT THEY SHOULD NOT BE ENTITLED TO FREE BENEFITS HOUSING ETC ETC AFTER WORKING 12 MONTHS IN THE LOCAL PETROL GARAGE.. ITS A JOKE !!!
maceinri | Mar 09, 2013, 01:24 PM EST
@Smyrnian: I assume you are in good faith and would like to suggest that there may be a misunderstanding here. People who have paid pay related social insurance (PRSI) are entitled to certain welfare payments - it's a scheme to which they have themselves contributed and like any insurance policy if you pay in you can claim if you have to. You cannot get off a boat or a plane and claim welfare in Ireland. In the case of migrant workers they are actually less likely to claim than Irish workers because in many cases they return home or move to another country. There are persistent myths about people either coming here for welfare (but see above) or being disproportionately more likely to claim welfare or be on welfare. These myths are utterly disproved by the statistics. It's not 'government money' it's money which the working have paid themselves - and the working, if they lose their jobs through no fault of their own, are entitled to it. I won't bother responding to childish comments like those of 'johnshiel'. And unlike most of you who post comments, I am prepared to post mine over my own name. Anyone who wishes to contact me will find my name, email, website and other details are freely available. I'm prepared to mix it with all comers! best
johnshiel | Mar 09, 2013, 09:15 AM EST
Dr. Piaras, you have a cute name and you are ever so clever at name calling. Your academic credentials have obviously elevated you above your less articulate peers. Has your mom seen your post below with all those lofty invectives? My, she'll surely swoon with pride.
Smyrnian | Mar 09, 2013, 07:26 AM EST
Pmac - that is exactly the attitude that keeps us in the mess we are in....perfectly entitled to welfare? Are you joking? Entitled on the backs of the few working. You are probably one of those people who believes there is something such as 'government money'.
pmaceinri | Mar 08, 2013, 07:18 PM EST
@Seanmor: a stupid, ignorant, inaccurate and utterly uninformed comment from someone who obviously knows nothing about migration in Ireland today. Check the facts before venting your racist prejudices. The facts are that migrants who came to Ireland in good faith, when jobs were available, are more likely than Irish people to have become unemployed, but are less likely to remain and draw welfare, even though in many cases they are perfectly entitled to. This kind of ignorant claptrap is the last thing we need in considering either emigration or immigration in an Irish context. I would hope for an intelligent, informed debate, not this kind of xenophobic nonsense, a farrago of prejudice and lies.
Seanmor | Mar 08, 2013, 07:06 PM EST
It would be very interesting to view the results of a survey of would-be Arab, Indian,and African emigrants and discover how many of these plan to go to the Irish state, where their prtosbects of employment would be much better than that of Irish natives, and where liberal benefits await them at taxpayers' expense.
Searlit | Mar 08, 2013, 11:22 AM EST
It's very sad that nothing can be done to help those who want to stay, especially the ones who are emigrating for the *second time* that is depressing. I hope they all find work they like, and happiness.
pmaceinri | Mar 08, 2013, 09:50 AM EST
Thanks for your comment. Some people are travelling abroad to 'see the world' and that's fine - people have always done that. But we also met whole families in their thirties and early forties who feel they have no choice other than to leave. In some cases one of them is leaving and the family is staying, because they cannot sell their houses, are in negative equity and are carrying a burden of debt. We also met older men, some of whom had never lived and worked outside Ireland, looking for any work they could get. They may not be representative of the whole population - it was a jobs far as you say - but their situations in some cases could be described as poignant. We are also carrying out household surveys and online surveys of emigrants themselves (we invite anyone interested to visit our site, web address above).
Eireannach | Mar 08, 2013, 08:13 AM EST
Presumably if they were interviewed by EMIGRE they were thinking of opportunities abroad anyway. They are not representative of the whole population. (Travelling abroad to work and see the world is not the same as being pushed out in order to survive!) and I don't see what is particularly "poignant...about lives in transition...blah"