Tanaiste Mary Coughlan has come under fire for her recent comments, during a BBC interview, about young people emigrating from Ireland. Coughlan appears to suggest that emigration is a welcome rite of passage, and that current emigrants from Ireland have the social capital to allow them to move freely. Her comments have been criticised by fellow politicians, and by letter writers to newspapers who claim she is understating the crisis of emigration.
The outrage about Coughlan’s comments stem in part from a refusal to acknowledge that emigration from Ireland continued during the Celtic Tiger era. Indeed, geographer Bronwen Walter has pointed out that many of those who emigrated from Ireland to the UK in this period ”were facing a range of experiences of disadvantages and limited options for improving their lives” (2008: 189). These emigrants, and the social and economic conditions that led to their departure from Ireland, are among the hidden stories of the Celtic Tiger.
One consequence of the denial of recent emigration is that emigration statistics, limited though they are, are being used to construct a contemporary moral panic. Yet, even in the middle of the Celtic Tiger era, thousands of young Irish worked in Australia, New Zealand and Canada on one-year working holiday visas, and their migration was celebrated rather than seen as a cause for concern. There has clearly been an increase in this type of temporary migration (see Figure 1), but from an annual base of over 10,000 over a sustained period.
Figure 1
Similarly, there is as yet no clear evidence for a significant increase in Irish emigration to the UK, at least in terms of National Insurance numbers issued to Irish nationals (see Figure 2). 
In other words, accounts of the increase in contemporary emigration from Ireland need to take into consideration the baseline levels of emigration during the Celtic Tiger era.
And what of current, well-educated emigrants from Ireland, with their degrees and their Phds? We have to hope that their experiences do not mirror those of well-educated immigrants to Ireland, whose qualifications and experiences were often discounted in Celtic Tiger land. Research by the ESRI, for example, highlights the fact that it is difficult for many immigrants in Ireland to gain access to more privileged jobs (e.g. managerial, professional), regardless of their qualifications.
It appears, from CSO publications, that there is an increase in emigration from Ireland. Just who those migrants are, and their reasons for and experiences of migration, are questions we still need to answer.
Mary Gilmartin
Ireland after NAMA 
February 24, 2010 at 9:32 pm
There are many questions: How many of the new Irish have emigrated? Are they being encouraged to go? Why are they now being described as East Europeans? If there was an international recovery, how many Irish born would be leaving now? How many will stay because of their mortgages? How many might go in spite of/because of their mortgages?
February 24, 2010 at 10:59 pm
Having lived in France, Germany the Netherlands and the UK as well as, of course Ireland, it’s definitely the case that emigration is a more “mainstream” option for young Irish people than in these other countries.
It’s completely normal to go abroad, temporarily or permanently, regardless of occupation, in a way that is not the case in these other countries (upper-middle class UKers and English-language grads on the continent being the possible exception).
Your average French 19-year-old would NEVER consider going abroad unless it was a last resort. For me, it was a standard option that plenty of others had chosen before me – that fear of the unknown was lesser.
I would suggest that Irish people are more likely to emigrate given the same economic situation as in another European country because it’s become a normalised part of life.
February 25, 2010 at 9:29 am
@Tony Demello
I completely agree. There are way too many assumptions made about migration, with too little evidence. More broadly, Irish immigration policy over recent years was based on the assumption that migration would be temporary, or ‘circular’, and that recent immigrants would leave if jobs were not available. People’s lives are more complicated than this – owning houses, children or relationships all contribute to the decisions migrants make to stay in a particular place. Treating migrants as economic and temporary gives us license to ignore important issues around integration, and is storing up problems for the future.
@DeeDee Ramona, yes, certainly, emigration is normalised in Ireland. This doesn’t mean that returning emigrants are easily accepted into Irish society. While we accept that people leave, we’re much less accepting of their return.
February 28, 2010 at 9:16 pm
This doesn’t mean that returning emigrants are easily accepted into Irish society
Too true! A returning emigrant will find that their time abroad is ignored eg will be expected to be familiar with/sympathise with Irish cultural experiences while their own are not acknowledged. And, of course, they will be fair game for any local swindle although this will be regarded as normal.
February 25, 2010 at 9:34 pm
@Mary
If UK and US unemployment was 6% there would be huge emigration from Ireland. It is beginning to become clear that emigration is the mechanism that our establishment use to prevent or slow reform and to avoid accountability for their failures. This cycle has been repeated time and again. The only way to break it is to introduce criminal sanctions for misgovernment and to relentlessly prosecute those responsible for the current Irish Great Depression. 1977, 2002…it will all happen again in 2027, or earlier, unless those responsible in the current government are jailed. The same should happen to their successors who recklessly misgovern too.
February 25, 2010 at 11:08 pm
@Mary
I don’t see myself ever returning. I’m quite happy here in Scotland. Maybe I need to go read some J P Donleavy….
February 26, 2010 at 1:00 am
@DeeDee Ramona
I agree as far as temporary emigration is concerned but permanent emigration has become normalised through economic necessity.
February 27, 2010 at 8:33 pm
@Tony
Yes I meant the “year in Australia / 2 years in France / working holiday in the USA” variety.
Lots of people go abroad with the intention of coming back after a few years. Not everyone who stays abroad does so because they can’t get a job at home though. I went abroad to do a PhD and then stayed because I also got my “Mrs” degree :).