Positives about Emigration

alex73

I hear a lot of negative views on Emigration. My Father emigrated to Canada and worked there for 10 years and always talks about it as a positive in his life, I Emigrated for 8 years to Spain/France and for sure it was one of the best times of my life. I expect my kids will Emigrate for a number of years, I don't see it as a negative thing.

Certainly if you are a family with kids its a very difficult thing to uproot and move, but for a University graduate I don't think its a negative thing.

My father and I got skills that allowed us to return and find employment in Ireland.

I know Emigration was viewed as something negative in the past, but today I can work in France and pop home once a month with cheap Ryanair flight or to the US and travel home twice a year. Its not like my fathers time when people could not afford to come home for years on end.

dan_d

I'm not sure why you're posting this, but I agree.

Part of the reason for the negative views is that emigration becomes a very different animal when it's forced on you ie you find yourself in a position where you just have no other options, having spent 1/2 years job hunting. There's only so long you can put your life on hold for. As opposed to if you look around and chose to leave for experience.

About the only advantage to being Irish in this mess is that emigration is such a widely accepted and dealt with thing in this country - far more so than in other countries. Irish people aren't afraid to pack up and go - they mightn't like it, it mightn't be right, but they'll do it.

I'd love to go for a couple of years, and may yet leave, depending on a number of personal circumstances. Can't wait to get out of this hole, to be honest.

Welease

Spent 20 years abroad and consider it the best investment in myself ever...

It's a big world full of opportunities and it wouldnt bother me to emigrate again if Ireland continues to push the self destruct button.

Amhran Nua

alex73 wrote: »

but for a University graduate I don't think its a negative thing.

Deciding to move around for your economic betterment is one thing, being forced to move away from your home, family and friends when you might not want to due to the poor decision making skills of a government of epic incompetence is a very different prospect.

alex73

Amhran Nua wrote: »

Deciding to move around for your economic betterment is one thing, being forced to move away from your home, family and friends when you might not want to due to the poor decision making skills of a government of epic incompetence is a very different prospect.

My Father was forced to move so was I, For sure for me it was good I did go.

If you are going to lay the blame on the Government (not that I support them) Then we might as well blame them since the state was born as we nearly always had emigration, it was only thats to FF/PD that we have immigration for the 1st time and I am not sure that brought benefits to the state.

Amhran Nua

alex73 wrote: »

If you are going to lay the blame on the Government (not that I support them) Then we might as well blame them since the state was born as we nearly always had emigration

I think the phrase "squandered opportunities" will become the defining sentiment about government policies at the start of this century. Things did change, and the government failed in every conceivable manner to take advantage of that, leading to more young people, the future of the country, being forced out the country. It may have been a tradition, but its not one we need to like or aim to carry on.

The_Thing

I'd gladly swap my unionised, pensionable, government job for a green card.

hinault

alex73 wrote: »

I hear a lot of negative views on Emigration. My Father emigrated to Canada and worked there for 10 years and always talks about it as a positive in his life, I Emigrated for 8 years to Spain/France and for sure it was one of the best times of my life. I expect my kids will Emigrate for a number of years, I don't see it as a negative thing.

Certainly if you are a family with kids its a very difficult thing to uproot and move, but for a University graduate I don't think its a negative thing.

My father and I got skills that allowed us to return and find employment in Ireland.

I know Emigration was viewed as something negative in the past, but today I can work in France and pop home once a month with cheap Ryanair flight or to the US and travel home twice a year. Its not like my fathers time when people could not afford to come home for years on end.

I take the points that you're making.


My own two cents worth.

Emigration was a solution to economic problems in the past.
For better or worse the past economic problems (1950/80's) were as a result of 800 years of oppression, little or no infrastructure, little or no economic base.

Since 1993, we had a chance to build an economy which should be able to provide an environment to allow us to retain our population here in Ireland.
That investment was based on substantial EU structural funding and a fortuitous upturn in the world economy.
This country generated so much wealth that the country should have been in a position where it would have had an economy which could have better withstood the great recession.

Instead we have an economy which is on it's knees because of over investment in PS and casino like private sector which gambled and lost
based on property.

.
Just listen to Mary Coughlan extolling the fact that our people are emigrating.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCQ_x15g0hQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSw825ORu2Q
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkkvU6LC3ZY

No other civilised European nation would tolerate emigration on the levels that this country now appears to tolerate