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Periscope by Niall O'Dowd

Emigration is Irish government's savior once again --- Same old story in a different era as thousands leave

Posted on Thursday, February 07, 2013 at 06:53 AM

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Group await a departing flight at Dublin Airport

Are emigrants abandoning Ireland, or is Ireland abandoning them? This was the headline in a recent face-off debate in The Irish Times.

The debate was spurred by a new Facebook page called “Ireland Abandoners” which attacked young people for leaving Ireland in the lurch and taking off for better climes.

The page created a minor sensation, with thousands batting forth the question before Facebook took it down at the instigation of a group of Australian emigrants.

Pity really, because it would have exposed the continuing fault line which appears to happen in every generation between those who go and those who stay.

Emigration is so fused into the brain of the Irish as a natural phenomenon that the idea of leaving family, friends and a land you grew up loving seems a normal rather than an utterly abnormal experience.

In fact there are few more transformative events in any one’s life than leaving their native land.

It causes massive problems if people are unprepared. Ask any of the Irish outreach centers in the U.S., Britain or Australia.

Read more: Immigration reform time - now is the time to make Irish and American history for the thousands living in limbo

This is why, given the option of staying, the vast majority would not “abandon” Ireland at all. The self-evident truth is lost on so many left behind however.

Those left behind by definition are usually more prosperous and able to ride out the waves of a difficult recession that washes over and swamps those less well off or less educated.

In every generation of Irish since the Free State was founded in 1922 there has been massive emigration.
In the 1920s it was Civil War veterans who took the wrong side who fled. Thirty years later it was the dispossessed rural sons and daughters of Ireland unable to make livings from poor family farms.

In the 1980s it was the newly educated class who found themselves heading to Boston and Berlin.

Now 30 years later, it appears to be everybody and not drawn from any specific class -- 87,000 for the year ending April 2012 according to the latest statistics.

The underlying reality in the 1920s, ‘50s, ‘80s and 2010 is the same. The failure of successive Irish governments to find enough employment and opportunity for their people speaks to a massive collective failure of the Irish nation.

The major difference between emigration in good times and in bad times is whether it is voluntary or involuntary. In good times obviously it is the former. Nowadays, however, I meet many of this new crop of emigrants who miss the fields of home as earnestly and obviously as their grandparents did in the 1950s.

This is no hi-tech movement of happily displaced upwardly mobile groups, though I’m sure under the term “voluntary emigration” you would find many of them clutching that banner.

Read more: Brain drain continues as Irish snap up 6,350 Canadian work visas over four days

This feels like the 1980s again, even a tinge of the 1950s, with folks who have no business emigrating either because of lack of skills or sheer inability to handle the massive emotional and physical disconnect making the trek. That is a failure that can be squarely laid at the feet of successive governments which once again have failed the basic challenge keeping their people employed.

Ironically, it is those leaving who are keeping the powers-that-be in power. If they stayed unemployment would rocket and social unrest would likely occur.

But as long as there is Aer Lingus EI 105 for New York or Ryanair to London to take them away, the crisis will never truly hit. See more: Irish government , Irish in New York , Irish immigration , Irish News

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Smyrnian | Feb 14, 2013, 02:19 PM EST

Mostly social welfare payments.

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WoundedKnee | Feb 11, 2013, 04:34 PM EST

Interesting statistic I see from ireland that the Irish media have all but buried, surprise surprise. Seems Nigerians last year sent back some 600 million euros to Nigeria from Ireland. That's not far from a billion bucks. Question is--where did they get that money?

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Joe Glackin | Feb 09, 2013, 10:27 PM EST

Changing times again with this seemingly new exodus of Ireland,s talent. When I left n early 80,s London or New York were the places.I went to both and elsewhere over 15 years. Its hard to see this all again. Then it was like bred into you, but I feel todays young were not expecting this. Interesting about 1920 republicans escaping out. I did a bit of research on the civil war some time ago. It was strange the amount of Anti treaty Volunteers not accounted for and simple mysterious happenings. Some were killed and buried ,others emigrated .Those that didnt contact home for fear of family safety through reprisals are among the disappeared. Theres was still that hope, years after, theyd walk down the lane .

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Smyrnian | Feb 09, 2013, 02:58 PM EST

Anglophile - your statement is beyond ridiculous and bordering on the insane. PS I am way too old to be your son, thankfully.

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Seanmor | Feb 08, 2013, 03:25 PM EST

It is estimated that 100,000 emigrated from all of Ireland in 1959. I personally know quite a few of these who regularly sent home lots of money while they were still single, and that helped the economy of the Irish state as well as the families of the emigrants. As far as many of us were concerned, it was a case of Ireland, or at least the governent of the Irish stat,e abandoning us, not vice versa.

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ancavker | Feb 08, 2013, 02:00 PM EST

STEVENSTAR: O'Dowd is right. There are lots of Irish still coming to the U.S. I see it all the time. WOodlawn and Yonkers is filling up again with a new wave. It may not be as many as the 1980's but it is a lot more than you care to acknowledge. And from talking to many of them more will be coming. The U.K. too is not in very good shape, and has huge systemic problems that are not getting better.

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ancavker | Feb 08, 2013, 02:00 PM EST

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ancavker | Feb 08, 2013, 02:00 PM EST

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ancavker | Feb 08, 2013, 02:00 PM EST

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ancavker | Feb 08, 2013, 01:56 PM EST

Wounded: You are exactly right! And many of those who fled were the best and the brighest; the ones who could in my opinion have built a better Ireland, not still dominated by England and the Church. As it happened though, it was really the old home rulers and remnants of the old Irish Nationalist Party who took over ofter the English left the 26 counties. Nothing od substnace was eve going to be accomplished. And went De Valera took over after them it was more of the same.

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Ron | Feb 08, 2013, 05:26 AM EST

So long as we're getting our share of the Irish downunder in Australia! 52,000 have emigrated here this past calendar year. Let's do it all again for 2013~

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Ron | Feb 08, 2013, 05:26 AM EST

So long as we're getting our share of Irish downunder in Australia! 52,000 have emigrated here this past calendar year. Let's do it all again for 2013~

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Ron | Feb 08, 2013, 05:26 AM EST

So long as we're getting our share of Irish downunder in Australia! 52,000 have emigrated here this past calendar year. Let's do it all again for 2013~

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WoundedKnee | Feb 08, 2013, 05:19 AM EST

"In the 1920s it was Civil War veterans who took the wrong side who fled." Couple of things wrong with this. It's not the case that these men "fled". They were harassed and persecuted, as I know well from my own family lore. They couldn't get jobs, they were harassed by secret police, abused by priests etc etc. The priests and police even often contacted people who were employing these men, or thinking of giving them a job, and warned them not to hire them. And they hadn't taken "the wrong side". They had supported the Republic proclaimed by Pearse and Connolly, and resisted those who sought to dismantle it. I have often thought that the forced emigration of republican veterans in the 1920s is a topic which merits a lot further study, but it is ignored by the conservative academics in Ireland.

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anglo-norman | Feb 07, 2013, 06:35 PM EST

kinvara7- Dream on son...

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kinvara7 | Feb 07, 2013, 05:45 PM EST

I'm afraid you are deluding yourself anglo-norman. Emigration became an intrinsic part of Irish life before independence. Infact this was only reversed under Irish rule during a period from the early 1990s to 2009. British rule was not good for Ireland. Indeed, if we were part of the UK now, our corporate tax rate would be around 26% (Northern Ireland is trying to follow the Republic's example -but I don't think London is listening yet). Indeed, you don't seem to be aware that over the last ten years around 2 million people have emigrated from the UK (that's between the ages of 25 and 44) so this is an issue that is facing the UK too. Add to that the fact that Britain has a massive national debt which is set to peak at 1.6 Trillion; record household debt; plus the fact that it is on the edge of a triple dip recession. In comparison Ireland was the second fastest growing economy in 2012, with record exports etc. We've made mistakes, and we've more to do, but the Celtic Phoenix is rising.

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anglo-norman | Feb 07, 2013, 05:04 PM EST

Smyrnian- A hell of a lot better son...The problem is in the Irish mind-set.

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STEVENSTAR | Feb 07, 2013, 05:03 PM EST

MOST IRISH PEOPLE THESE DAYS IMMIGRATE TO LONDON,OR OTHER PARTS OF ENGLAND, AUSTRALIA OR CANADA 'THEY DO NOT' IMMIGRATE TO AMERICA..SO PLEASE DON'T FLATTER YOURSELVES ABOUT AIR LINGUS FLIGHTS E105 AND IF ANYONE KNEW ANYTHING ABOUT TRAVEK AIR LINGUS HAVE DRAMATICALLY CUT MOST FLIGHTS TO AMERICA DUE TO LOW TRAFFIC VOLUMES..!!!

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Smyrnian | Feb 07, 2013, 04:41 PM EST

And how well did we fare when the English did the governing for us, Anglophile?

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anglo-norman | Feb 07, 2013, 04:14 PM EST

The Irish simply cannot govern themselves..

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kinvara7 | Feb 07, 2013, 04:03 PM EST

You talk about "the failure of successive Irish governments to find enough employment..." but again this is an oversimplification. Look at how many in America believe that the government needs to get out of the way, so that America's private sector can create jobs. One of your failures, and indeed the failure of too many commentators, is that you focus exclusively on the government. Where are your articles examining the actions of some of Ireland's wealthiest businessmen to create employment? We need to emphasize private enterprise as the primary factor behind economic prosperity. Viewing a topic in black and white and then concluding it neatly by blaming the government, might make it easy and quick to write an article but it won't shed much light on the issue.

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kinvara7 | Feb 07, 2013, 04:03 PM EST

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kinvara7 | Feb 07, 2013, 04:03 PM EST

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kinvara7 | Feb 07, 2013, 04:03 PM EST

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kinvara7 | Feb 07, 2013, 03:59 PM EST

You talk about the "continuing fault line", but you seem oblivious to your publication's role in segregating this current generation. A generation who are broken down by IC into "the best and brightest", who leave behind the slow ones, I guess; or as you say here instead, the "prosperous". It is nice to live in a black and white world, where everyone who stays in Ireland is categorised as an insider, but it is nonsense. One would have thought that the recent 'Just Saying' video would have given you a better understanding. There are many young people who have stayed even though it is difficult, but they will be ignored by IC. When young Irish communities are formed abroad in places like Australia and Canada, and they're in contact with their friends in Ireland through Facebook, that creates a huge draw for those still in Ireland. The options in Ireland might look less attractive to the options abroad then. You sight the figure of 87,000, but ignore that that includes migrants -46,500 Irish people moved abroad in 2012 and 20,600 Irish people came back to live in Ireland in 2012.

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angrypaddy | Feb 07, 2013, 01:31 PM EST

The only people to leave Ireland are the ones who actualy want to work,the ones who stay wouldn't get out of their drunken bed's to warm themselves as they are the result of welfare parents and you can see the results of that

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Smyrnian | Feb 07, 2013, 11:10 AM EST

Good posts by everyone. Also, I never thought I would agree with Niall on much but he really did a great job on this one. Well done, Niall!

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Smyrnian | Feb 07, 2013, 10:29 AM EST

The headline is so true,"Emigration is Irish government's saviour once again...." I remember reading comments made by Brian Lenihan Sr. back in the early 1980s. He was then Minister of Foreign Affairs - and was attending an event in Chicago (I believe it was Chicago). His no doubt most welcoming Irish and Irish American audience listened as the great man explained to them how emigration was Ireland's natural "safety valve," benefiting both Ireland and America. I remember thinking, my God, don't they get it - don't they see the irony. The Lenihans and the Haugheys and the other political families whose birth-right was to rule would never see the emigrant boat or plane. Emigration was never their destiny. But to maintain their previleged positions the safety valve was necessary to prevent unrest at home and maybe some burnt offerings in the streets.

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Seanmor | Feb 07, 2013, 09:01 AM EST

The article correctly states that there was "massive emigration" of Civil War veterans who "took the wrong side". Nearely all of these had fought for full independence against the British from Jan. 0f 1919 to July of '21, but never got an ounce of credit for liberating 5/6 of the Irish nation from 7 centuries of British rule. Those of us who left Ireland later in the last century dearly love the Irish WHOLE nastion, even though Partitionist politians perceive us as "sentimemntal fools".

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bobby | Feb 07, 2013, 08:02 AM EST

88,000 people moved to Ireland from outside the EU in 2012.

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