GAA beginning to feel the pinch of uncontrolled emigration
Posted on Monday, February 07, 2011 at 11:21 AM
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Above: passengers waiting to board a flight at Shannon Airport, Ireland's Western gateway to the US. Unless students demand of politicians that they take steps to address the emigration problem, there'll be plenty more of these flights.Excuse me if I've come to be known as the weekly bearer of doom and gloom from Ireland, but there's so much about student emigration that's worth reporting on, and so little seemingly being done about it.
I found a few pieces from Ireland's newspapers this week that shed more light on what's becoming an unstoppable problem for Ireland.
Ranking them in order of misery and dismalness, this piece from the Irish Independent surely leads the field: the GAA is losing 250 players a week to emigration.
This is a fairly shocking fact. The gravity and scale of the emigration problem is perhaps better and more keenly felt when you limit the statistics to a certain group or class of people rather than just paint the picture in terms of the entire country, which makes it fairly difficult to get a grasp on just how many people are leaving when the numbers are so large.
That fact about the GAA is far from the worst of the statistics, though. The ERSI (Economic Research and Social Institute), widely regarded as Ireland's leading think-tank, has estimated that 100,000 young people will leave Ireland between Apr. '10 and Apr. '12 alone; that's a shocking amount that is in fact even worse than the recession of the '80s when the net outflow reached a mere 44,000, but in truth both are catastrophic figures.
Other countries are certainly beginning to take cognizance of this problem, which perhaps is not surprising giving the enormous scale of it. A Dutch television station is to make a documentary on the situation, according to this morning's Irish Examiner, but what's revealing about that is a quote from the documentary's maker which shows just how unusually strange and terrible our situation is: "In Holland people emigrate because they have to, in Ireland it's an economic necessity," the documentary maker says.
In Canada, a traditional stronghold of Irish emigrants, they're even offering a new visa which will make it easier for Irish emigrants to extend their stay in the country to a second year and perhaps even longer.
The point of all this wordage, besides to show how bad the problem is, is to highlight that nothing seems to be being done about this.
Student unions, such as the national USI, have made some tepid steps towards highlighting the situation, but this has amounted to little more than an angry march on Dublin city centre which saw a few arrests and the surfacing of allegations of police brutality, but nothing substantive was done, no commitments were made, and the problem remains as bad, or worse, than it ever was before.
Coming into the upcoming general election now is the time for Irish students to get on the backs of their local politicians and ask them what they propose to do to solve this problem.
The alternative is a very bad one.
Post-script: I noticed a Google video ad for Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny in the sidebar of Irish Central when editing this post. That in itself is a huge positive for me as a 22 year old voter. Neither Fianna Fail nor Labour have bothered to make anything more than perfunctory use out of social media which for me is a sign that they're out of touch with young people and how they're influenced. Use of social media should be preached as a fundamental when devising national election campaigns. I think that a party that ignores this crucial area is simply shooting itself in the foot...
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greensod | Feb 13, 2011, 04:21 PM EST
Do not expect any help from the politicans,the only thing they care about is getting elected.They would perfere all of Irelands youth leave.That way they give up their vote.Only Sinn Fein cares about its people who had to leave and would once again give them the right to vote.Think about it.
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jacersagain | Feb 13, 2011, 04:10 PM EST
I fully agree with maceinri's last post. There is an option for visiting working people in Australia - to find a sponsor in order to stay on. Most good workers will be sponsored by appreciative employers.
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maceinri | Feb 13, 2011, 03:34 PM EST
@jacersagain I'd agree broadly with your analysis - we had substantial labour shortages from the late 1990s onwards (some of this arose because of the overheating of the economy by greedy developers and their political cronies in FF, a clearly unsustainable policy). Your point about Irish construction workers is a good one - what goes around comes around in the EU and by and large we have done well from the opportunities offered. Obviously if this country is prepared to welcome migrants - which is a quid pro quo for the many countries to which Irish people have gone - you don't just turf them out again at the first sign of trouble. People have lives to live and a xenophobic policy of exclusion would simply lead to similar action against Irish people elsewhere. Anyway it's not an option as freedom of movement is guaranteed with in the EU (the number of non-EU migrants in Ireland is now small and largely confined to people with specific skills in areas like the paramedical).
Theh only point I'd make as a comment on your point about Irish undocumented workers in the US is that the lobby (ILIR) has talked up the numbers beyond any credible threshold - it's a fraction of the much-claimed 50,000. There is a tendency in migration-related debates to toss figures around like snuff at a wake - most have no basis in fact.
On the Gap Year phenomenon, there is a major problem looming here, insofar as 22,000 Irish people went to Australia two years ago on working holiday visas. Staying in Australia as undocumented is just not an option and I have no idea where these people will go as their visas run out.
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jacersagain | Feb 13, 2011, 12:31 PM EST
One thing Danny Boy didn’t mention above is a huge number of the students leaving Ireland have chosen this time to do their Gap Year. The reason so many others leaving are so young is that they are the now-grown up products of the ‘Snow Baby’ years of 1977, ’79 and ’82 who can’t afford, or get a mortgage, to buy a house. We should have seen this in the 80s when demand for school places rocketed and should have planned for their arrival into adulthood.
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jacersagain | Feb 13, 2011, 12:17 PM EST
Wou’knee – the reason so many immigrants came to Ireland was two-fold. Our economy was booming so much we did not have enough people to do the work that was there to be done, so we imported people. Secondly, many African people came here as asylum seekers because of a rash of injustices taking place in their own countries at the same time. In 1995 and again in 2000, I forecast that we heading for such a boom that we would need to import people and therefore accommodation for them and hence a demand for building workers. The reason many emigrants have stayed, particularly Poles and Latvians, is because the minimum hourly rate of pay in Ireland is triple that in their own countries, so why should they go home when they have a EU right to stay in the jobs they got in the first place? Thousands of Irish construction workers went to Germany in the 90s when jobs were scarce here and Germany’s economy was booming. It works all-round ways in the EU. Many bogus asylum seekers have been repatriated while the genuine ones remain and are now part of our social fabric. I agree on the illegal US immigrants, including Irish people stupid or desperate enough to become such – that is a sizzling time bomb USA will have to face up to sometime and the sooner the better.
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WoundedKnee | Feb 12, 2011, 08:51 PM EST
maceinri, You don't win arguments by irrelevant insults. You've posted a lot here, but you never explained why so many immigrants were brought into Ireland. And why there're still there taking jobs that Irish could be doing, even though the Irish have the cheek to come here illegally looking for work that they could find in their own country.
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maceinri | Feb 12, 2011, 08:04 PM EST
Great arguments there Georgie boy!
'the catalyst of your 'eloguence' (try the dictionary, if you can read one) is Arthur Guinness'; 'your type of foulmouthed bigots'.
Couldn't you find a few actual _arguments_? You know, like, when you take a person's point of view and disagree with it, by putting forward reasoned and valid counter-points? Probably a bit old-fashioned for a whiz-kid.
I guess you're a Palin supporter (or is she too moderate) as well, or maybe you think the Rapture is imminent? How about Global Warming - sceptic or supporter?
Do try not to stay out so long in the sun - your brain has gone a bit soft!
Now, I've had enough of reading your rubbish. And no-one else is! bye
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GeorgeDillon | Feb 12, 2011, 03:43 PM EST
So macenri, in I don't know how many hundred words spread across half-a-dozen posts, you were incapable of offering one fact. Just line after line of blather and bombast. Confirms my suspicions. Your debating training is restricted to Saturday nites, and the catalyst of your eloguence is Arthur Guinness. Your type of foulmouthed bigots get your way in Ireland, where all scrutiny of Mass Immigration is censored, but your support of fat cats, big business and public parasites won't escape scrutiny on a free forum such as this. Seeing your inept performance it's easy to see why the Mass Immigrationists try to stifle all debate in Ireland.
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maceinri | Feb 12, 2011, 06:40 AM EST
‘abusive loudmouth shouting’; ‘drunken slob’ ‘parasite paycheck’ ‘lousy fraud’ ‘dishonest fool and charlatan’ I enjoyed these examples of good manners.
Listen Georgie Boy, spare yourself the bother. No-one out there is reading it. Try karaoke instead; you obviously love the sound of your own voice
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GeorgeDillon | Feb 11, 2011, 06:44 PM EST
We'll have to take macenri's word for it when he claims that his style of abusive loudmouth shouting is not a "skill" acquired in Saturday night bars. He sure argues like a drunken slob. It's all insult and abuse--absolutely no facts. Analyze what he writes. Are there any facts there? No. He tells us that Maurice Manning wrote a book. Wow! --mac thinks that entitles him to a 300.000 a year paycheck. Not for the book, though. Are these people in Ireland utterly crazy--Some nobody called Manning is pulling down 300k (our Supreme Court judges here in US don't even make 200k) and Mac thinks that's great. That convinces me that Mac is on a similar parasite paycheck--why else would he defend the absurdity of Manning making 300k, in a country that's broke, and when no one even knows what job he does? Parasites like Manning (and mac) are part of the problem in Ireland. Mac tells us he's an expert on immigration. Listen mac, you're no more an expert on immigration than you are on logic and good manners. The real experts on emigration are the Irish parents saying farewell to their sons and daughters, and the real experts on immigration are the Irish parents who have to take their children out of school because half the class don't speak English. Mac tells us he's a left-winger. Sure Mac, just like former Taoiseach Ahern was a socialist. You're no left-winger, Mac, you're a lousy fraud--you support Irish capitalism's plan of importing vast numbers of cheap foreign workers and exporting the young Irish. And in case any reader thinks that sounds outrageous, it is--but it's happening. Every month many thousands of foreign workers swarm into Ireland, even while thousands of young Irish leave the land of their forefathers. Mac, do Ireland a favor and join the ranks of the emigrants. On second thoughts--where would you go? No country needs to import a dishonest fool and charlatan.
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maceinri | Feb 10, 2011, 06:58 AM EST
Couple of points in response to GeorgeDillon’s abusive and inaccurate rant. One, I’m not anti-American, I was merely extending a fool’s pardon to you for your ignorance of Ireland and Irish affairs as there is no special reason why ordinary Americans would have a detailed knowledge of the matters which you so inaccurately address. Two, I’m not a paid lobbyist for anyone, but I do have a detailed knowledge of this field and have written and published extensively about it. Three, I don’t know Maurice Manning but I do know what kind of a person he is – among other things he is a noted historian and former politician and wrote the first ground-breaking history of the Blueshirts in Ireland. Four, I have never voted SF or FF in my life and belong to the left, not the right, of the political spectrum.
And one other thing: a lot of Irish people, myself included, don’t spend their time drinking in pubs. Maybe, instead of indulging in stereotyping like this, you could do a bit of reading before your next rant. My focus in my comments on you is on your utter ignorance and disgusting xenophobia, not your drinking habits.
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GeorgeDillon | Feb 09, 2011, 04:00 PM EST
Just saw the Irish immigration figures for January. Turns out over 4000 settlers arrived in Ireland in that month. Over 10% of these were Brazilian, an even higher percentage were Poles. (Hey, didn't our plucky pensioner sir peter on this site tell us that the Poles had all gone home?). Now this might not seem a lot, in American terms, till you remember that it's about equal (probably smaller than) the number of young Irish people who emigrated during the same time. Or, to put it another way, Ireland stands to repeat its 2010 figure of 70.000 foreign settlers (more settlers arrive during the summer months). The projections for emigration by Irish go as high as 100.000 in 2010. Huge numbers of Irish are leaving, while even huger numbers of foreigners are arriving!! What is happening is not the depopulation of Ireland, it's repopulation. It's Ethnosuicide, and lobbyists like Macenri get on here and do propaganda for it. Shame on him and his lousy Finna Fail friends. They've ruined Ireland.
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GeorgeDillon | Feb 09, 2011, 03:27 PM EST
I have reported maceinri’s recent post, as it is abusive, ill-mannered, and dishonest.
Macenri, maybe that’s the way you “debate” on a Saturday nite in the pub after 4 pints, but it won’t pass muster here. To start with, Mac attacks me because I am American. Listen, mac, if you don’t want to hear the opinions of Americans, what the hell are you doing on this site? It really sounds that Mac is himself part of one of the Immigration Lobby groups. Are you, mac? Are you a paid lobbyist for the settlement of Ireland by foreigners? I’m sorry (not) you’re running out of funds, Mac, but with a Sugar Daddy like Chuck Feeney you’ll be OK. What a stupid hypocrite you are, Mac—you object to Americans, but you suck up every cent that Chuck Feeney’s outfit tosses your way.
How much is he paying you, Mac? And note how Mac defends his buddy Maurice Manning. Now this guy Manning will be unknown to American readers (and to Irish also, since he has never done anything of note) hut he currently—in a country that is broke and beggared—gets paid better than Barack Obama. For what, you may ask. Frankly, no one knows, but it seems to have something to do with whining periodically that foreign settlers in Ireland are being denied some “rights” that only Manning believes they are entitled to. As to Mac’s utterly inane defense of Sinn fein, of course Sinn fein are in the pockets of the bosses and capitalists, since they are foremost in defending the capitalist project of settling Ireland with cheap foreign labor. In Gerry Adams’ words “everyone is welcome here”. In other words, no control of foreign migration to Ireland. You’re an abusive reactionary, mac, but your kind of right-wing verbal intimidation certainly won’t silence me or the countless Irish people who want a sane immigration policy. Go back and run with your right-wing Fianna Fail herd, mac, you have nothing but lies to offer Irish workers or their supporters abroad.
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maceinri | Feb 09, 2011, 12:46 PM EST
The various columnists I read on this website, with their various views, are usually interesting irrespective of whether one agrees with them or not. The comments are another matter. Judging by his spelling and phrasing, and his inability to spell words in Irish, 'GeorgeDillon' is American. It's a pity he doesn't inform himself about something before expressing views which are inaccurate and ignorant. It's a bit rich for him to refer to 'foreign interferers' (sic) as Atlantic - they are here on the ground in Ireland, doing good work, whereas 'GeorgeDillon' is talking through his rear end.
I don't know who the 'well-funded pressure groups' are - all the NGOs in the migration sector in Ireland are facing extremely serious financial challenges and much of the work they do is unpaid. I don't know what Maurice Manning earns, but he was appointed through due process to a body which owes its existence to the Belfast Agreement and which is there to ensure that some of the crasser kinds of prejudice and discrimination to found in Ireland (views as bigoted and those of 'GeorgeDillon') are mitigated through a proper complaints process.
Sinn Fein would no doubt be amused to hear themselves described as doing the bidding of capitalists and bosses, but it's just another illustration of 'GeorgeDillon's utter ignorance of Ireland and Irish affairs.
Finally, the logic of the 'GeorgeDillon' position is that the 1.3m Irish people born in Ireland but currently living in other countries should be kicked out and sent home.
'GeorgeDillon' should take a 101 course in Ireland before opening his mouth again. Better still, he should shut up; he has nothing of any value to say.
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