On Friday, two young, recent emigrants wrote of their experiences. Paul Bradfield wrote that he is moving for an unpaid internship in The Hague, and hopes that employment will follow.

Here are a few excerpts:

I went not for the want of pleasure or enjoyment, nor to seek a “gap� year full of congenial experiences. The very term “gap� year implies that there is a distinct point in the future upon which the “gap� will be filled, whereupon one returns home to fulfil the innately human desire of carving out a career for oneself, or to simply settle into an agreeable existence in the place of one’s birth. Provided of course, you are able to return. Like many young Irish men and women who have gone before and will go after me, I go because I must.

Witness the exodus. The lost generation is leaving. Moreover, judging by the demographic of attendees of recent emigration seminars held around the country, married couples with young children are also embarking upon the uncertain but now necessary voyage of emigration, to make a better life for themselves and their progeny. To Australia, Canada, the UK and Europe they are heading.

Read the whole letter on the Irish Times website.

A second young person, Sarah Moore, wrote that she was “disgusted at the recent comments on emigration by the Tanaiste Mary Coughlan”. Sarah is a university graduate with a higher diploma in nursing who reports that she has had several job offers from English hospitals. She says:

I, a young person of 23, have recently moved to London to take up a job. And despite Ms Coughlan’s assertions about my generation, I did not move to enjoy myself. I left my family, my friends and all that I hold dear behind because I had to.

I moved because my native country has nothing to offer me because of the self-interest, the naked greed, the croneyism of those in positions of power in Government and in financial institutions. These are the people who robbed a whole generation of a future in Ireland and they are still making the decisions about our country.

Are we the most compliant nation on Earth, or what?

Read the rest of the letter on the Irish Times website.

And on Tuesday, a letter from an older emigrant echoed the themes of the two younger emigrants.  Tom Healy of Plymouth, England, emigrated in 1962 “not to enjoy myself but. . . to avoid a life of poverty in Ireland”. He says her comments “led me to reflect on how little the situation has changed since I boarded a flight at Dublin for Bristol.”

I had left school two years before; my parents could not afford to put me through higher education. My future, for what it was worth, lay in a succession of low-paid, insecure jobs with plenty of bouts of unemployment in between. I wasted reams of paper and expended a small fortune on postage to make job applications that seldom elicited an acknowledgment, let alone an interview.

In despair, I left for England, where I have lived and worked since. The leaving was difficult and painful. Fitting in took much effort, but eventually I adjusted to life here. For a few years I entertained the hope that I might be able to return and tried to do so, only to run up against the barriers which made people like me in the Ireland of the time unable to find work. I refer to the croneyism and insider relationships which plagued the Ireland of the time and appear never to have gone away. Those who achieved their place in the sun post-Independence had no time for those caught on the outside, for that would have required changes which might have reduced their influence and status and upset their cosy world.

Emigration, I must tell Ms Moore, is as much an instrument of Government policy now as then, and as in the 19th century. Those of us who leave provide the safety- valve that allows the rotten shower in power to avoid having to create a more just and fair society.

It might well be better to stay at home and raise hell to change the odiously corrupt system which existed when I was young and which seems to have changed but little in the almost 50 years since I left.

Read the whole letter on the Irish Times website.

This makes for bleak reading. It was only two years ago that Bertie Ahern was being lauded for putting an end to involuntary emigration. He himself regarded it as one of the key achievements of his administration, saying in his resignation speech:

In looking back on all the things I wanted to achieve in politics, I am proud that as Taoiseach I have:

- delivered on my objective to bring the peace process to fruition;
- delivered on my objective to see a stable administration based on the power-sharing model take root in Northern Ireland;
- delivered successive social partnership agreements which underpin our social and economic progress;
- delivered a modern economy with sustainable growth in employment and brought an end to the days of forced emigration;
- delivered on my objective to improve and to secure Ireland’s position as a modern, dynamic and integral part of the European Union.

What a difference two years makes.

An analysis from Davy has gotten a lot of news attention today.  The research report into the Irish economy says that we wasted the boom, and issues a damning verdict on how Ireland misallocated its investment from 2000 to  2008, resulting in poor infrastructure with inadequate roads, rail, schools, hospitals and telecoms.

One area where the report is suprisingly reassuring, however, is in the analysis of emigration.

This analysis of our capital stock has one glaring omission: human capital. Looking to the medium term, this is Ireland’s greatest strength. The economy has the highest number of graduates in the 25-34 population in the EU-27, with the exception of Cyprus. That proportion (and its average quality) may depreciate somewhat if recovery does not take hold and emigration accelerates. But so far the outflow through emigration has been hyped while ignoring the mix.

First, net inward migration has turned negative mainly because immigration (people coming to Ireland) has collapsed rather than due to a surge in emigration (people leaving).

Second, a high proportion of those who have left are low-skilled and worked in construction where employment has more than halved. Construction, by its very nature, is a highly labour-intensive and low-productivity industry. Workers tend to be mobile, and emigration from this sector will not particularly dilute the quality of human capital in Ireland.

Moreover, the nascent recovery of the international-traded sectors will keep many of our graduates at home. Longer-term, investment in education must remain the salient priority.

I would dispute the assertion that there has been no surge in emigration. The emigration figures from Ireland were up 43% between 2008 and 2009, and up 145% between 2004 and 2009.  The new phenomenon, of course, is that the majority of emigrants were going to the newer countries of the EU, and were thus presumably immigrants returning home.  This is obviously not the same thing as suggesting there has been no upsurge in emigration.

The characterisation of the current emigrant outflow being comprised mostly of construction workers and therefore not “diluting the quality of human capital” rests uneasily with me. First, I’m not aware of recent studies that break down emigration by occupational sector (please let me know if you know of any), so I’m presuming this is based on anecdotal evidence.  There appears to be plenty of anecdotal evidence asserting, however, that it is not just manual labourers but also third-level graduates who are leaving. (In today’s Irish Times alone, for example, two graduates tell their emigration tales.)

It’s also at odds with the Tanaiste’s recent comments that emigration today is comprised of those Irish young people who are emigrating “to gain experience” and “want to enjoy themselves’ and  are leaving “with degrees, PhDs. They are people who have a greater acumen academically and they have found work in other parts of the world.”

So on the one hand, we are reassured that we need not trouble ourselves with the upsurge in emigration because (a) it’s really not happening and (b) it’s not going to lower the quality of our labour force, and on the other hand, we need not trouble ourselves with the upsurge in emigration because these are highly educated people “who want to enjoy themselves”.

Obviously, this is a complex issue. We’ve heard very little of ‘brain drain’ with this upsurge of emigration, because the model of “brain circulation” has largely displaced the concept of permanent loss in migration thinking. We know from the boom that networks of well-educated Irish people can be an asset for our economy, no matter where they live, and many of them may eventually return if there is a return to substantial growth.

In terms of economic costs, emigration’s toll may not be all that harsh. Obviously, in the short term, emigration is a tried-and-true safety valve; sending off surplus labour will save social welfare money, and relieving the pressure on the unemployment rate will certainly make our economic performance look better on paper. And each unemployed person who leaves is one fewer potentially angry voter when it comes to election time.

But involuntary emigration carries very high potential human costs, and any analysis that does not take those into account is not looking at the full picture.  Davy might call it  “hype”, but the concern over rising emigration rates reflects Ireland’s long experience with a phenomenon many of us thought was gone forever.

See the report on the Davy.ie website

Questioner: For the first time in 15 or more years, there is net emigration in Ireland. Once again we see Irish people leaving this country leaving this country looking for work. How long? How long is that going to last?

You have two things happening. We have had over – in the80s we had about a million people working. Two years ago, two and a half years ago, over 2.1 million people working. We have 1.8 million still working in this country.

We did have a lot of people who came from the new member states to come here. Many of them have returned home because the employment opportunities have not been afforded to them.

Equally we have a lot of people – young people- who have decided they will go to other parts of the world to gain experience and I think the type of emigration that we have -

Questioner: But your government was supposed to have ended that, the whole cycle of Irish having to leave Ireland.

It’s the type of people that have left have gone on the basis that – some of them, fine, they want to enjoy themselves. That’s what young people are entitled to do.

But moreover, they are coming with a different talent. They are coming with degrees, PhDs.  They are people who have a greater acumen academically and they have found work in other parts of the world.

And that’s not a bad thing. Because equally we still continue to have very many people who are working here from other member states, the EU and Northern Ireland.

Related web pages:

• See the full interview on thestory.ie (Emigration comments begin in the sixth minute of part 3)
• Hardtalk website
• Mary Coughlan’s website

The fact that emigrants must pay the tax was raised in the Dail today by Frank Feighan, Fine Gael’s TD from Roscommon South-Leitrim. In a debate over the Finance Bill, he said,

I agree the non-principal residence tax is a good idea for raising moneys for local authorities. However, having visited the Roscommon Associations in Manchester, Birmingham and London, I know many emigrants feel let down that the little house they have back in Ireland, some without even electricity or running water, will be charged this tax. They want to be good citizens but the local authorities are insisting they pay the €200 tax. That is an insult to the Irish diaspora which actually helped rebuild this country by sending money back from abroad.

The Government must apologise to those emigrants in the United States and the United Kingdom who have tried to keep a link with this country by keeping a small house, sometimes just a pile of stones, for not considering them when introducing this tax. It must be amended because the local authorities have not considered all factors involved.

This, clearly, is a case of taxation without representation. Is it right to levy taxes on citizens who are entitled to no representation in this State? Two centuries of post-Enlightenment thinking would say no. Is this democratic?

Related websites:

• TD Frank Feighan’s Dail speech on KildareStreet.com
• Factsheet on the Non-Principal Private Residence from the Irish Taxation Institute
• Non-principal private residence – online payment service

Forced emigration is again a reality in County Mayo for an entire young generation. This spectre, which haunted Mayo for two centuries, is now back as a reality. That’s why I now receive text messages and emails from Australia, Canada, and the USA enquiring about job prospects. That’s why six young footballers have left Islandeady for foreign shores. Other clubs around the country have the same problem.

The article notes that live register figures have begun to decline from the 12,000 figure of jobless in Mayo in September 2009, due to the number of people leaving the county. Only 7,000 were unemployed in September 2008.

Economists cite emigration as a major reason why the unemployment figures released today showed a rate of 12.7%; they would be higher were the safety valve of emigration not in effect.
See the entire article:

• Mayo Advertiser: Forced emigration a reality in Mayo – Kenny

All of these improvements of recent years, however, appear to be threatened by the current crisis and the recent upsurge of youth emigration. I have resisted believing any of the news reports suggesting that there is any possibility that anyone in any government department could be hoping for an increase in emigration so as to lower the unemployment rates.

As I listened to Minister Lenihan’s speech, however, and read the accompanying Twitter feed, it was deeply unsettling to see how many times the word “emigration” was appearing in the tweets of young people’s responses to the budget. Whatever message was intended, many young people clearly interpreted it as a signal that their generation was to be the sacrificial offering to appease the gods of economic disaster.

I copied as much as I could catch of the relevant postings. Here they are (unedited and uncensored):

On job creation and the future

Mark_Coughlan “Never again will our children, like our cattle, be raised for export”. Never until today. #Budget10

Mark_Coughlan Well, there goes the majority of my qualified, intelligent, unemployed circle of friends to Canada/Australia. Cheers Brian.#Budget10

robserver How exactly jobs are going to be created is quite unclear. Emigration it is, lads. I’m outta here on 1st July 2010. #budget10

BreffniOS There is no incentive to create jobs or industry, no long term planning. Prepare for mass graduate emigration.

gavreilly Sparing a thought for UCD students who went into exams at 3pm and come out at 5pm to the prospect of unavoidable emigration.

murf61 @MickFealty I can see emigration numbers rising dramatically over the next 2-3 years

KeithM #budget10 Emigration, Ireland’s only contribution to the World!

mrsjotaylor well, there goes the youth *emigration* #budget10

danielshi @Padraig Emigration for me too. I wonder what percentage of people here are on the way out?

RachelMorrogh Glad I’ll be in Canada before the influx of unemployed under-22s reaches those shores #budget10

@IMJ_Ireland Young people of Ireland….time for the emigrant boat #budget10

dlooney Lets be honest here – the Governmdnt WANT plenty of young ppl to fuck off and emigrate – it’s a safety valve. Won’t admit it tho #budget10

laurak88 he’s not makin it very easy for young people who want to stay in ireland to do so-well done lads *mass exodus to the airport #budget10

tvcritics It takes Brian Lenihan just 1/2 an hour to kick start mass emigration of the young #Budget10 fuck you Fianna Fáil

itslauraduggan People get the hell out of Ireland while you can #budget10

activedan I’ve got a plane ticket for Wales leaving first thing in the morning. i may not return! #budget10

DiarmaidONeill well I look forward to emigrating once I graduate thanks for ruining Ireland for my generation -don’t tax the remittances though #budget10

Kelly_McGrath I’m getting more and more tempted… RT @rebeccameehan#budget10 I wonder how many of my friends are going to leave the country…

eoinbannon @donalmulligan We’re not all doomed to emigrate but some of us are.Maybe not tomorrow. But young people wont hang around long on €150 a week

nightphaser On people calling for emigration in the face of policy: If the good ones leave, only the bad ones will remain to do as they please.

GracieMcKenna #budget10 – it’s definitely time to think about emigrating!!! ‘The worst is over’… I think I’ll reserve judgement on that one!

tpohare So, where’s everyone else planning on emigrating to? #budget10

Belindamckeon so the choice for young people: emigrate or drink yourself into oblivion on cheaper booze. wahey! #budget10

dlooney Rumours that maintenance grants will be down more than 5%. Less working class kids for college, more for emigration.#budget10

robserver How exactly jobs are going to be created is quite unclear.Emigration it is, lads. I’m outta here on 1st July 2010. #budget10

BreffniOS There is no incentive to create jobs or industry, no long term planning. Prepare for mass graduate emigration.

stevedaley #budget10 is the most exemplary recipe for returning to the 1980s… Irish political elite have surrendered the goal of job creation. many of my friends are going to leave the country…

On history

Spaghettihoop So we raise our children as ship and plane-fodder. Again?#budget10

Robbiecousins No jobs in this, at least the last Lenihan suggested sponsoring people to leave the country #budget10

handelaar @twentymajor @markcoughlan The Dev Strategy. Deny expat voting, then force everyone who hates you to emigrate.

@bioniclaura The emigration pressure valve is a tried and tested measure used down the years by our political classes.

The Kennedy centre announcement

thomasbrunkard Inauguration of President Kennedy probably proved that emigration was a great opportunity Brian. #Budget10

niamhsmith @KeyboardCouch the Kennedys who had the good sense to emigrate, I might add! #budget10

cormacflynn Ted Kennedy thing is laughable. We’ll be building monuments to other successful emigrants after this budget #budget10

KatWaters Bet Alistair Darlings wishes he could have announced funding for a new theme park to highlight the opps that come with emigration. #budget10

RealBLenihan He’s really setting up an Emigration Centre? Should come in handy. #budget10

KeyboardCouch @niamhsmith and many more young people will be following their example thanks to this mess so maybe it’s fitting #budget10

RosettaBroy RT @BandF: Stemming emigration would have been a better tribute to Ted Kennedy http://bit.ly/4BPyzE

FieldNStream RT @Mimi_Mir Smoke & mirrors! Ireland is f*ck*d! Brutal attack on S.W.! Time 2 start swimming! & as for Ted Kennedy tribute-joke!

Tax on the tax exiles

CharteredAccIrl #budget10 radical new rules for ‘tax exiles’ – being Irish just got expensive!

DiarmaidONeill well I look forward to emigrating once I graduate thanks for ruining Ireland for my generation -don’t tax the remittances though #budget10

NooneCasey Farmleigh Levy – Irish domicile levy of €200k on Diaspora who came back to help! #budget10

And the word from abroad…

johnpaulfoxe I am so glad I don’t live in Ireland anymore! #budget10

irishassoc recommends moving to winnipeg, canada #budget10

irishassoc new Irish emigrants always welcomed warmly #budget10

Piaras Mac Einri, in an article on IrishCentral.com, noted that Irish authorities seem complacent about the current wave of emigration. If they are, it’s possibly because they subscribe to this rather benign view of emigration’s effects in Ireland.

But what other effects does emigration have? A new study produced by researchers in Michigan suggests that emigration is not just the result of economic downturn, but is also an agent in it. Michigan has faced a severe loss of population in the last decade, losing 16,000 jobs as 63 of its 83 counties faced a decline in the number of residents.

The Economic Impacts of County Population Changes in Michigan, from the Land Policy Institute at Michigan State University, says that this emigration in itself poses serious economic challenges.  It estimates it’s cost Michigan $2 billion of economic output, with $585 million lost in labour income, $346 million in property income, and $2.4 billion dollars in home equity value.

“When people leave town, so does their economic activity,” said Land Policy Institute Soji Adelaja,  the lead author of the study. “This is especially true in a service economy, which depends upon people providing and needing services. The impact of these departures cuts deeper into the economy.”

“Such population loss can mean an economic vortex for a city like Detroit. Fewer people mean fewer tax revenues to provide city services. Fewer city services mean lower quality of life for people. So people are faced with tough decisions: Stick it out, or leave.”

Various sectors are particularly affected, including domestic trade, home construction, real estate rental, foreign trade, healthcare services, food services and drinking places, wholesale trade, insurance and financial services and entertainment activities, such as movie theatres. In a service-oriented economic in which people are more apt to move, these services are also more likely to move with them.

The study notes that “the loss of economic activity due to population loss is likely to be an increasingly important issue as the economy transitions further from a manufacturing-based economy to a service-based one.”

It calls for the following strategies as a remedy for Michigan’s ills:

• Population attraction strategies.
• “Right-sizing” or “down-sizing” (aligning provision of services with population).
• Policies targeted to enhance the stability of the service sector.
• Tourism-attraction strategies.
• Immigration-based strategies for economic development.
• The pursuit of federal resources to salvage Michigan’s economy.

The study is well worth a read. How much of it is relevant to the Irish situation? Will emigration be a factor in extending our current downturn? How hard are we trying to make sure it won’t be?

Related web pages:

• Land Policy Institute Website: press release with links to study
• Irish Times: Jobless figures for November unchanged at 12.5% – CSO
• Irish Central: Emigration is back with a vengeance in Ireland

From Shore to Shore: A specially-commissioned pageant focussing on arriving planters and departing emigrants, to be performed (May-June) on some of the north-west’s most picturesque beaches from Hervey’s Downhill to Red Hugh’s Rathmullan. This would feature the stories of northwest immigrants such as John Dunlap (Strabane), who went on to print the American Declaration of Independence, and William Massey (Limavady), who became Prime Minister of New Zealand. There would also be an international tie-in with Scotland, Liverpool and Newfoundland.

The idea is one of many cultural offerings dreamed up by a group of arts workers who wanted to beef up the city’s application as it enters the second round. It’s a great example of how focusing on Ireland’s emigrant heritage strengthens international links as it showcases the achievements of the Irish abroad – as well as providing exciting platforms for innovative cultural happenings.

See the full article by Garbhan Downey in the Derry Journal: Culture 2013 bid must be special.

Let me know if you know of any others to add to this list, either in Ireland or around the world.

Larne, Co. Antrim – “Emigrants to America�

• See it on Flickr.
• bbc.co.uk – A stroll through Larne – “Migration from Larne”
• Larne.gov.uk tourism site

This memorial depicts a family emigrating in 1717, and their appearance is in marked contrast to the more common depictions of famine-era emigrants. They are well-dressed and relatively prosperous-looking; the woman is carrying a Bible and the boy is carrying his shoes. Their positioning, in which they look forward into the distance, suggests a sense of possibility and even pride.  The figures appear to be a literate, reasonably well-off family looking forward to the future.

The inscription on the monument reads:

This memorial, unveiled on 16th May 1992 by Professor Bobby Moss PhD of South Carolina, is dedicated to the memory of those first Ulster emigrants who sailed from Larne in May 1717 upon the “Friends Goodwill” bound for Boston. They were to be the first of many.”

“There is no other race in the United States that can produce a roll of honour so long and so shining with distinction. And who shall deny our claim to have done more, much more than any others to make the United States”.

Two related monuments:

• Coffin ship, National Famine Monument at Murrisk, Co Mayo. John Behan – See it on Flickr.
• Arrival, United Nations, New York City. John Behan- See it on Flickr.

These are closely linked memorials that tell different stories.

• “Coffin Ship” places the emphasis on death and suffering tied in with the departure -skeletons form the structure of the ship, and the figures are lying down. It is significant that this monument is in Ireland, where the Famine’s toll of suffering and death was acute.
• “Arrival” emphasises the successful completion of the journey- the figures are upright, and some of them are leaving the boat. Additionally, these are fully-fleshed out buildings and the figures on the boat have individual features. The sculpture’s location in New York and its more positive tone reflects the fact that for those who made the journey, there was the possibility of a new life. It also reflects the different meaning of the famine for the two countries: While for Ireland, the Famine was synonymous with despair, emigration and death; in the New World, however, discourse about Famine emigration, while acknowledging many of its tragic aspects, also reflects the fact that the large-scale migration was a starting point for much of Irish-American history.

Famine Monuments, Ireland and Canada – Rowan Gillespie

Famine Monument, Dublin

• Images on Flickr
  

Ireland Park, Toronto

• Images on Flickr
• Ireland Park Foundation
• Explanation of each sculpture
• Video presentation on the park

The Toronto memorial is unusual in that it focuses on the mindset of the immediate arrivals.

Falcarragh, Co. Donegal – The Bridge of Tears and monument stone

The translation of text on the stone: “Friends and relations of the person who was emigrating would come this far. Here they separated. This is the Bridge of Tears.�

• See it on Flickr.
• See the bridge on ancestry.com
• A photo of the bridge emphasising the desolation of the area
• The stone

Derry –”The Emigrants” Eamon O’Doherty’s sculpture at Waterloo Place

• See it on Flickr.
• About the sculptor
• “The Emigrants” (Arts Council of Northern Ireland)

This monument depicts a couple departing with their children and two grandparents saying farewell. Two of the figures in the departing family look backward at the grandparents, while two look forward, toward the port.

The sculptor is showing the relationship between the emigrants’ past and future and the people left behind. The depiction of two figures looking back and two looking forward highlights both the pain of departure and the possibilities inherent in migration.  The boy has a musical instrument, and the young girl is carrying a book;  both of these signify the culture they will bring with them to their new land.

The clothing and the figures are highly stylised, so it seems  that the sculptor is trying to represent the idea of emigration itself rather than commemorate a particular set of emigrants.

Sligo Famine Memorial

See it on Flickr.

This sculpture shows the vulnerability of the Famine emigrants – yet the figures are also demonstrating tenderness and concern for each other. In contrast to the family at Larne, they are focused inward – emigration is not for them a matter of looking forward to a bright future.  The young girl is pointing out toward the harbour, and ultimately to her future in America.

Annie Moore

Annie Moore with her brothers, Cobh – Images on Flickr

Annie Moore at Ellis Island, New York  – Images on Flickr

Annie Moore was the first immigrant to pass through Ellis Island in New York, which was opened on January 1, 1892. She and her brothers were joining her parents, who had emigrated in 1888.

Kiltimagh – “I’ll send you the fare” – Sally McKenna, 2006

• See it on Flickr.
• Departing emigrant of the 1950s

The plaque on the ground reads,

“This sculpture is dedicated by Bill Durkan to the memory of the young men and women who emigrated from Kiltimagh, Bohola and the surrounding areas during the 1950s.”

Many young men and women emigrated alone in the 1950s. This is an extremely poignant depiction of emigration: the figure is almost ghost-like in its positioning on the footpath of a town street, as he trudges along, accompanied by no one. The small suitcase seems to highlight his vulnerability, heightening the notion that he may be ill-prepared for such a life-changing journey.  The lack of pedestal gives  a greater sense of immediacy or intimacy to the figure.

This is a monument to the ordinary, unheralded emigrant, yet it is also very specific in its reference to a particular place and time. It is unusual in memorialising such a recent migration; many of those it is meant to memorialise are still alive.

Cork Listening Posts

Cork City Council

The Listening Posts are an innovative use of oral history. The repeating voices of the posts are like ghostly presences inhabiting the quays.

This monument is different from the others in its visual minimalism, as it would be impossible to tell from the appearance of the sculpture what it is meant to memorialise.

Other monuments and memorials:

• Irish Memorial, Philadelphia – Flickr
• Famine monument, Cambridge, Massachusetts – Flickr
• New Basin Canal Irish Memorial, New Orleans, Louisiana – Flickr
• Famine memorial – Sydney, Australia – Flickr
• New Basin Canal Irish Memorial – Flickr
• Irish Veteran Memorial Project – website
• Shot at Dawn Memorial – Flickr

International – monuments crated by other nations to commemorate various migrations

• Emigration Stone – Cromarty, Scotland – Flickr
• Emigration monument, Hanko, Finland – Flickr
• Monleone, Cicagna, Italy – Flickr
• Emigrant’s Monument, Feltre – Flickr
• Garden of Exile – Berlin Flickr, web, Flickr, Youtube
• Monument of mass emigration, The Three Changjiang River Gorges, China – Flickr
• Chinese coolie, Singapore – Flickr
• Lampedusa, Italy – monument to migrants who died at sea trying to reach Europe – web article, Flickr
• Migrant children, Fremantle, Australia – Flickr, more Flickr

UNESCO – Migration and World Heritage Sites

The Irish Independent reports that charities that look after pets are seeing an increase in the number of owners leaving their pets, with people blaming financial difficulties or their intentions to emigrate to seek work. Last year there were 20,000 dogs that were abandoned or given up, with about half of those put down.

The paper reports that the Dublin Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals “has received a recent influx of calls from people looking to surrender or re-home their pets.” An animal rescue centre in Tipperary has seen the numbers of animals it’s taking in rising by a fifth, while facing slumping donations.

In an editorial, the paper says:

It seems a reasonable guess that people intending to emigrate form a high proportion of those who abandon animals. This in turn draws attention to the increase in emigration among both Irish people and returning immigrants, an inevitable consequence of the recession.

People who are planning to leave Ireland may not be aware that in many cases they may simply be able to take their animals with them. While Ireland has strict regulations that make it difficult to bring animals in, most emigrant destinations allow intending immigrants to move with their pets.

As for the definitive answer on how many people are emigrating, we await the publication of the CSO statistics, due in the next few weeks, to reveal the numbers behind the anecdotes.

Related web pages:

• Irish Independent: Struggling shelters forced to put down 10,000 dogs last year
• Irish Independent: Dogs are yours for a lifetime
• Airsea.ie – an Irish company that moves pets from Ireland around the world
• EU Pet Passport
• Moving pets to the UK
• Moving pets to the United States
• Moving pets to Australia
• Moving pets to Canada
• Moving pets to New Zealand
• Bringing pets to Poland (more here)
• IrishAnimals.ie: Ireland’s Pet Quarantine Laws