Following the articles last week on misbehaving Irish students summering abroad, reports from Canada, Australia and the rest of Europe have confirmed that Irish students appear to be over-indulged and wild.
Tales of Irish students misbehaving in Canada, where many J1 visa student's working abroad have gone this summer, paint a similar picture to that in California and the west coast. Irish students are being shouted at in the streets the locals feel so strongly about their presence, according to a report in the Irish Times.
One anecdote that has come back from Malaga, Spain, tells of a woman screaming in the middle of the street that she hates the Irish students. In Australia it appears that the locals in places like Coogee, Sydney, have for years steered away from dealing with Irish backpackers as their reputation precedes them.
It's been suggested that this generation of young Irish are too concerned with pleasure seeking having grown up during the Celtic Tiger. They expect to have fun whenever they go including the kind of rock star behavior and disregard for property such as throwing microwaves into swimming pools and trashing hotel rooms.
It is, no doubt, a difficult time for the youth of Ireland with 5,000 people emigrating every month. The future has turned into something very uncertain for a bunch of youngsters who presumed that they would complete their educations and slip into a comfortable and well paid job after travelling around the world to their hearts content.
However, what has been pointed out time and time again is that this is not the first time that the Irish have had to leave home to seek work and a better life elsewhere. Quite the contrary, our history is peppered with emigration and poverty.
In the 20th century those who left the country to seek employment spent much of their time trying to quash that stereotypical reputation of the Irish as freckle faced, drunks with a great gift for that gab but no ability to apply themselves. Thankfully we proved that this stereotype is the exceptions to the rule.
However as the Irish Times reports American, and employers across the world, might be putting up a "no Irish need apply" sign because of these reports about misbehaving J1 students.
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