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« Previous Entries Next Entries »Researcher seeks returning emigrants
Thursday, October 14th, 2010A PhD student is seeking returning emigrants who left Ireland since 1990 and have come back. She writes in IrishEmigrant.com:
I am a PhD student at the University of Aberdeen, Scotland and I’d like to meet with recently returned Irish emigrants in the west of Ireland, to take part in an exciting PhD research project. This project will explore your experiences of leaving Ireland during the 1990s or 2000s to spend some time abroad and your experiences of returning back to Ireland.
The initial interest for my research stemmed from my own family’s experience of emigration and return from north-west Kerry out to America and England and then subsequently back again. Ireland’s national story has been very closely linked with the issues of emigration. During the Celtic Tiger economic boom in the 1990s, Irish emigrants were returning significantly in greater numbers than those leaving the country. Whilst sadly this trend has ceased, people still continue to return and in particular to the more rural western counties.
Interested participants would be asked to meet for one-to-one informal interviews which would be orally recorded and any identifying details need not be attached should you wish. Through these personalised everyday accounts from returned emigrants, I hope to explore the interactions with ‘locals’ and ‘others’ in the communities, the material objects brought back to Ireland or travelled with, memories of growing up in Ireland and the experience of return. Together these elements can provide a rich picture of the social and cultural changes taken place in recent years in Ireland. If you are interested in taking part or would like to receive more information please contact:
E-mail: christina.noble@abdn.ac.uk
Telephone: 447748967469
Post: Christina Noble, 1 Friary Court, Park Road, Killarney, Co. Kerry, Irelan
Children’s hospital looks to diaspora in funding shortfall
Thursday, October 14th, 2010The head of the development board for the new National Children’s Hospital has said that she expects to launch a global campaign targeting the Irish diaspora to meet a €110 million funding shortfall.
The hospital, now due to open in 2015, will cost €650 million euro. The State is putting up €450 million while €90 million will come from in-hospital commercial activities such as parking and shops.
The Irish Independent reports:
But a “capital campaign” involving high-level networking by experts to secure “major gifts” from wealthy donors — including Ireland’s diaspora community in the United States — will be launched globally.
Asked if she was confident of raising the funds [Hospital Board Chief Executive Eilish Hardiman] said: “The board has taken its remit very seriously. . . we will be looking to the diaspora.”
“It is a highly specialised area. We have three years and you do it first in a quiet way and then to the point where there is a pledge for the project.
“I think when it comes to philanthropy that it is very important that they see the plans and see the progress — it is linked to how the project is progressing.”
The concept of fundraising among the diaspora is nothing new of course – the Croi West of Ireland Cardiac Foundation has had a particularly high profile among the Irish abroad, for example. And The Ireland Funds says it has raised over $350 million since 1976 for worthy causes in Ireland around the world, with $210 million in the last 15 years, supporting 1,200 projects in Ireland.
But those numbers still seem a challenge. News reports don’t say what percentage of the funds the hospital is hoping to raise from the diaspora, but if it’s taken the Ireland Funds – a gigantic, expertly-run philanthropic machine operating in 12 countries – the last 15 years to raise $210 million (about €150 million), €110 million in three years would seem to be an enormously challenging target for one project – particularly in a period of global recession and at a time of increasing demands on the diaspora.
Though perhaps all of Ireland’s increased efforts to engage with the diaspora will pay off with ever-rising philanthropic contributions – it will be interesting to watch how this progresses.
See more on diaspora philanthropy:
Diaspora Philanthropy: Private Giving and Public Policy (Published by the Migration Policy Institute in association with US Aid)
Is “emigration” taboo?
Sunday, October 3rd, 2010I was browsing the MerrionStreet.com website this evening. Launched this summer, the site bills itself as “the Irish Government News Service”. Searching through the archives, I found that it only had two mentions of the world “emigration”.
In the first instance, it used the word in reference to a history exhibition. In the second, the last sentence of an article notes that Tanaiste Mary Coughlan had answered questions on emigration. There is not a single article addressing the issue of rising emigration, nor, as Irish migration expert Piaras Mac Einri noted some time ago in a radio appearance, has any government leader addressed the topic in any significant way.
Considering the fact that the rise in emigration is a particularly common theme in news articles being written about our economy, this is somewhat surprising. Is this a taboo subject in government circles? In contrast, “unemployment” appears 19 times, and “crisis” in 42 articles.
“Diaspora” appears six times. In Ireland, “diaspora” is the sanitised version of emigration. The diaspora is the global community of Ireland-lovers we turn to in times of economic crisis. They’re the resource that Taoiseach Brian Cowen aptly called “huge and willing” last week, as he launched the Smart Economy strategy. We started using the term in a big way in about 1994, at around the time our Celtic Tiger was summoning our emigrants back home to work. At the time, it was as if we could finally think about our diaspora because we were finally becoming rich enough to think that no one was going to have to face the pain of involuntary departure anymore. With the lifting of that pain came an ability to face its mixed legacy: millions of people scattered around the world who felt a connection to Ireland – and who in recent years we’ve found we can tap for expertise, for investment, for tourism, and much more.
Emigrants, in contrast, are often conceptualised as needing support. The funds distributed by the Irish Abroad Unit to the vulnerable, first-generation members of our diaspora are referred to as the “Emigrant Support Programme“, for example. (These funds were cut 14% last year, in a time of rising need.) More than one commentator has called for banishing the word – for example, journalist Karlin Lillington, who thinks it’s too “emotive” and “used to score political points”; and noted Irish-American philanthropist Loretta Brennan Glucksman, who was quoted in the Irish Times as saying, “we should eliminate the word ’emigration’ and make it a two-way street” (though with no context, it’s difficult to know precisely what she intended).
I think we should face up to it. Relabelling the phenomenon – or ignoring it altogether – won’t make it go away. One only need look at today’s Irish Times to realise that it has reemerged as a subject in need of consideration – and we have reason to be concerned about the urgency of the pressures some people are feeling.
When Bertie Ahern left office, he claimed the ending of involuntary emigration as one of his greatest legacies. Now that that’s turned out to be as much of a chimera as the rest of our economic miracle, it’s a little disquieting to see that this historically painful aspect of our current crisis is becoming off-limits for official discussion.
Emigrant voting rights: a study of EU nations
Sunday, October 3rd, 2010Europeans Throughout the World has produced a handy chart of emigrant voting rights across the EU that I’ve been meaning to post for quite some time.
The whole chart is very much worth a look – I’ve just pulled out one section of the data below, the answer to the question of whether expats are allowed to vote at national elections, but the chart also covers such information as means of voting, eligibility to vote for MEPs, special advisory bodies and more. Ireland, of course, is the only country with all “No’s” across the board.
European Country – Vote at national elections?
AUSTRIA – YES
BELGIUM – YES
DENMARK – (YES) but with many restrictions
ESTONIA – YES
FINLAND – YES
FRANCE – YES
GERMANY – YES – but only within countries of Council of Europe
GREECE – NO (subject to change following recent European Court of Human Rights decision)
IRELAND – NO
ITALY – YES
LUXEMBOURG – YES
SPAIN – YES
NETHERLANDS – YES
POLAND – YES
PORTUGAL – YES
ROMANIA – YES
SLOVAKIA – YES
SWEDEN – YES
SWISS – YES
UNITED KINGDOM – YES (Voting right is lost after 15 years abroad – this time limit is being challenged by a Spanish-based UK citizen.)
Visit the Europeans Throughout the World website.
See articles from the archive on emigrant voting.
Farmleigh Fellowship applications being accepted for Asian business studies
Thursday, September 30th, 2010I wrote about this Asian fellowship when it was first announced. Now is the time to apply, if you’re a graduate interested in spending a a year studying for a Master’s in Asian Business. It’s a fascinating innovation involving members of the Irish business community based overseas, and it’s an outgrowth of last year’s Global Irish Economic Forum at Farmleigh.
Here’s the suss, sent to me by Donagh Fitzgerald of the Farmleigh Fellowship Team.
The Farmleigh Fellowship
The Farmleigh Fellowship is an innovative and exciting scholarship programme linking Ireland and Asia. We are looking for outstanding individuals with drive and energy to place on a twelve month work-study programme with three months at UCC (School of Asian Studies) in Ireland, four months at NTU (Nanyang Business School) in Singapore (whose MBA programme is ranked No. 3 in Asia-Pacific.) and five months at selected Farmleigh Companies across Asia.
Your time will be split between generating an actionable Asian business development plan for your sponsoring Farmleigh Company and studying for a Master’s in Asian Business with the entire process mentored and guided by the leading members of the Irish business world in Asia.
What are the benefits of this programme?
- First-hand experience of international business in one of the world’s fastest growing regions.
- A Masters in Asian Business (Level 9) awarded by UCC and delivered in partnership with NTU.
- Build the networks and close personal relationships which are vital elements in doing business there.
- Learn the soft as well as the hard skills to thrive in the Asian business world.
- Have the opportunity to experience high levels of autonomy and responsibility.
- Accelerate your career development and enhance your long-term professional opportunities.
Who are the sponsoring companies?
The sponsoring Farmleigh Companies will either come from Ireland or have strong Irish connections and vary in size from high potential start-ups to multinational corporations. All will have a specific and challenging Asian business development project for their sponsored candidate to complete.
Who can apply?
This ground-breaking programme is open to graduates and experienced professionals in all disciplines and who want a life changing opportunity of working and studying in one of the world’s most dynamic regions.
What costs does the scholarship cover?
The scholarship covers the cost of tuition at UCC and NTU and one return flight to from Ireland to Singapore. The scholarship does not cover the cost of accommodation in Ireland or Singapore or the candidate’s daily maintenance for the full duration of the programme.
When can I apply?
We will be accepting applications from the 23rd of September to the 15th of October.
How can I find out more?
If you are ambitious, talented and committed and want a career in international business visit www.farmleighfellowship.com or email info@farmleighfellowship.com
75% of Irish jobless considering emigration
Thursday, September 30th, 2010Just a snippet on Newstalk today: 75% of the jobless in Ireland are considering emigration, according to a Grafton Recruitment study. The survey also found that European destinations are the top potential pick, then Australia and then Canada. This is, of course, a change from earlier decades, in which the UK and the US would have loomed much larger.
I wonder about the implications of this more dispersed diaspora for Irish individuals and communities abroad – will people be more vulnerable away from more established communities? Or has the makeup of our emigrant population changed so much that this is less of an issue?
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