Irish emigration in 2011 will be no worse than in the late 1980s, despite what appeared in today’s article in the Guardian, which was widely forwarded and retweeted across the net.
“Irish Emigration Worse Than 1980s,” the article by Lisa O’Carroll announces, noting emigration last peaked in Ireland in 1989, when 44,000 left the country. This time ’round – she quotes the ESRI – there will be 50,000.
Yes, indeed, 50,000 is a somewhat larger number than 44,000, but larger too is our population. In 1989 it stood at approximately 3,531,689 and when 44,000 left it gave us an exodus of 1.24%. This time we’re sporting a population of about 4,470,700, of which 50,000 only brings us to 1.11%.
How bad is 1.11% anyway? It’s but a smidgen. Imagine the local shop giving you 1.1% off a pair of trousers in a sale, you’d laugh at them.
Damn it, is it not our duty to explore the world and claim it as our own?
Good for the 50,000 souls who leave our shores this year, I say, may they take their destiny in their hands, visit wondrous places, meet open-minded and exotic people, gain new experience and learn new things, may they tan their faces in a land where the sun actually shines, or where the health care system actually works, or where there’s more to social life than watching X-Factor or sculling expensive pints. Good for them, I say, for there’s nothing better in this world that to travel and expand your mind.
In future, they may return, and with them they’ll bring riches in experience, stories to tell, and likely a jolt to our long-suffering gombeen gene pool, with foreign wives and husbands.
Those that don’t come back, they’ll remain as Irish in 50 years as they do today, and they will spawn a new generation of sons-of-Irish who will look fondly on their country, visit it, live in it, invest in it, talk positively about it. Damn it, is it not our duty to explore the world and claim it as our own?
Bring on the 50,000 a year exodus, I say, for there are opportunities in crises, and it’s only then you truly value what you have: your education, your health, your voice, your intelligence, and your long-suppressed desire for adventure!
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Mark, I think there’s a difference between leaving to explore the world of your own volition, and having to do so out of necessity. While 1.11% is a small percentage of the overall population, 50000 is a much higher proportion of the cohort of the population they represent; mostly recent graduates / couples with small kids. That’s 50000 potential male and female Bill Gateses / Bonos (probably not the best example but you get what I mean)/ Calatravas that have left our shores and in all likelihood will not return on a permanent basis. It makes Ireland all the poorer (literally and figuratively) for it. Yes, they will probably hold onto their Irishness and pass it on to their kids, but Ireland is diminished a little by each person that leaves. Not that I begrudge them for one second; I’d do the same in a heartbeat if I needed to, but I’ve been lucky enough that my field has still enough demand in it to keep me employed here (for now!).