The budget, young people and emigration: the word from Twitter
Tuesday, December 15th, 2009It was heartbreaking to watch the Twitter feed while listening to last week’s budget speech from Finance Minister Brian Lenihan. In the last decade, the government has done so much to redress the omissions of the past regarding Ireland’s relationship with the diaspora. Since the publication of the Task Force Report on Policy Regarding Emigration in 2002, the government has acknowledged its debt to our emigrants, established the Irish Abroad Unit, initiated a dramatic increase in funding to emigrant services, and has undertaken innovative projects such as the recent Global Irish Economic Forum at Farmleigh. There has been much reason to feel positive about the Irish government’s role in ending the involuntary emigration of years past, and to believe in its sincerity in addressing the many problems that beset Irish communities around the world as they tried to help aging or isolated emigrants and the undocumented in the US.
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*Â #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… RTÂ @rebeccameehan#budget10Â 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 #budget10Â 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 RTÂ @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 #budget10Â 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
NY to get Irish Arts Center with €2.3 million grant
Monday, December 7th, 2009New York will get a major new Irish landmark, with the announcement today that Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin has granted€2.3 million for the construction of an Irish Arts Centre in Manhattan.
The press release from the Department of Foreign Affairs said:
The Minister said one of the main themes to emerge from the attendees at the Global Irish Economic Forum was the importance of Irish Culture to the image of this country abroad and in particular in the USA. He noted that this was also an important conclusion of the Strategic Review of Ireland US Relations, published by the Taoiseach last March. Minister Martin said he was extremely impressed by the arguments made at Farmleigh by members of the business and cultural sectors alike.
Announcing the grant from the Emigrant Support Programme managed by the Department of Foreign Affairs, the Minister said:
“The allocation of such significant funding is a clear demonstration of the Government’s strong commitment to the building of the new Irish Arts Centre in New York. This funding is a response to the extraordinary gesture of the City of New York in making a site, valued at $12 million available for the project, along with a further $8 million in capital funding.
The construction of the New York Irish Arts Centre is identified as a priority in the revised Programme for Government and I would like to pay tribute to Minister Martin Cullen for his longstanding support and commitment to the project.
The new Centre will project a dynamic image of Ireland and Irish America across the US; it will facilitate extensive Irish-related cultural, business and community programmes; will showcase quality contemporary Irish theatre and art; and will also provide an invaluable resource for the Irish emigrant community in the US�.
The Minister paid warm tribute to New York City Mayor Bloomberg and Speaker Christine Quinn for their exceptional support for the initiative. He also thanked Gabriel Byrne for his support for the Arts Centre and for his longstanding work in promoting Irish culture throughout the US.
Minister Martin said that this major initiative demonstrates how seriously the Government views the outcome of the Farmleigh Forum:
“Everybody at Farmleigh said that the success of the Conference could only be judged by the quality of the follow up. Today I have begun to demonstrate that despite the difficult budgetary situation, we are determined to continue investing in our unique resource- the Irish Diaspora and its cultural heritage.
This is just the beginning and I will be making further announcements in the New Year.
Other ideas which are being actively progressed include: a new Global Irish Network; the establishment of an Irish innovation centre in Silicon Valley; the Gateway Ireland portal, which would serve as a key online focus for promoting Ireland abroad and engaging with our global community; expanded educational exchange and scholarship programmes to increase engagement with younger generations; and a new Farmleigh Overseas Graduate Programme. I am aware that a number of other Departments are also taking forward initiatives suggested at Farmleigh. I am similarly encouraged by the fact that significant work has already been undertaken by participants themselves on a number of projects that are more suitably advanced by the private sector. These will have the support of the Government.�
He pointed out that at its meeting on 13 October, the Government considered a comprehensive report prepared by the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Irish Management Institute. The full report contains a detailed list of the main themes and specific proposals to emerge and is available on (www.dfa.ie and www.globalirishforum.ie).
The Government has also established a new inter-Departmental Committee, chaired by the Secretary General of the Department of Taoiseach, to consider the proposals and monitor progress across Departments. The Committee has already begun its work and will report to Government in the New Year.
The Minister emphasised that the Government is absolutely committed to engagement with the Irish Diaspora across all regions and all sectors:
“Through the Emigrant Support Programme, we will continue to offer support to all sections of our Diaspora. In addition to the increased economic element to our work arising from the recent Forum, I am determined to ensure that we continue to attach a high priority to meeting the needs of the most vulnerable members of the Irish abroad.�
Are the Welsh jealous of our diaspora?
Monday, December 7th, 2009A group of representatives from Welsh cultural institutions say that Wales should use Ireland as  a model for promoting Welsh culture – but note that the power of the Irish diaspora gives Ireland a big head start.
Wales Online reports that experts from the National Museum of Wales, Arts Council of Wales, Welsh National Opera, Welsh Language Board and National Eisteddfod met with representatives from the Assembly Government and Visit Wales to discuss global market strategies. Â They said that Wales had cultural assets to match those of Ireland, but suffered from a lower profile.
National Museum of Wales director general Michael Houlihan said: “Wales has a job to do on an international front. If you go to the States the Irish diaspora is very strong, whereas for Wales there is still a lot of work to be done.”
Heledd Fyhan, advocacy and policy officer at the National Museum of Wales, sounded positively envious of Ireland as she said: “We are still very unclear how to market ourselves. The Irish market their music, their castles and art collections brilliantly – even though they are not as good as ours.”
Ouch.
John Wake, a director of Capital Region Tourism, however, blamed some intrinsic differences between the Welsh and the Irish for the imbalance in their global profiles:
What Ireland have got is a happy-go-lucky attitude to life. The culture is drinking, smiling, being one of the lads or one of the girls. I don’t think we could copy that. We have our own identity that is very different. To compare us with Ireland is unrealistic.
Ireland has Guinness, pubs and leprechauns and we don’t have any of that. What is the biggest parade of the year in New York? St Patrick’s Day. In Wales we celebrate St Patrick’s Day and Burns Night more than St David’s Day. Why don’t we have a Dylan Thomas night?
Hmmm… We sound like a sozzled bunch, I guess, but at least our diaspora consumes our culture.
Related web page:
Work starts on Global Irish Economic Forum idea
Monday, December 7th, 2009One idea from the Global Irish Economic Forum has apparently been initiated by Gibralter-based businessman Dermot Desmond. The Irish Times reported over the weekend that Desmond had invited over 160 high-profile people from the arts, business and academia to give inputs into the formation of a global university for the arts.
The idea behind the university is to leverage one of Ireland’s greatest advantages – our cultural heritage – into a driver for economic development.
The Irish Times listed those invited to participate:
They include musicians Bono and U2, Enya, The Corrs and Van Morrison; Hollywood actors Daniel Day-Lewis, Colin Farrell and Liam Neeson; film directors Neil Jordan and Jim Sheridan; and writers Brian Friel, Roddy Doyle and Sebastian Barry.
Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin has also been asked to participate in the project. Among the business figures invited to submit ideas are telecoms and media entrepreneur Denis O’Brien, former Intel chief executive Craig Barrett, and Gary McGann, chief executive of packaging group Smurfit Kappa.
It looks as if the closed-door policy of the Global Irish Economic Forum will continue, as these high-profile participants are being invited to discuss the project on a private website.
We eagerly await news of the other projects to follow. The only other one that I am aware the government says it is enacting is a network for high-level professionals among the Irish abroad, but no doubt there will be more.
Related websites:
- Irish Times.com: Desmond invites stars to help start global cultural university
- Global Irish Forum website
Will emigration lead us down economic vortex?
Monday, December 7th, 2009In Ireland, it’s probably most common to think of emigration as an economic release valve. It lowers the unemployment rate, cuts the costs of social welfare, and siphons off the kind of economic pressure that in other societies might result in popular revolt. Â Historically, emigration is seen as a result of our poor economic situation, not a major contributor to it.
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. Â 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, Â 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
Emigration pageant for Derry City of Culture bid?
Friday, December 4th, 2009An interesting emigration-themed idea proposed for Derry’s bid to become the UK City of Culture in 2013:
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.
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