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« Previous Entries Next Entries »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.
“Irish in Britain” event debates diaspora role
Thursday, December 3rd, 2009I did up this report for the Irish Emigrant newsletter at Emigrant.ie –
UCD’s John Hume Institute brought its third annual Irish Diaspora Forum to London this week, bringing together politicians, historians, writers, business executives and others from the Irish community. UCD president Hugh Brady joked that the “Irish in Britain” event allowed London to become “Connemara East” for the day. He called the forum series “a rolling conversation exploring the nature of the relationship between Ireland and Irish people and people who identify with Ireland.” The first two forums, which were co-organised by Irish America magazine and The Ireland Funds along with UCD, were held in 2007 in New York and in 2008 in Dublin.
The speakers at this year’s event, which drew about 100 people, included academics Mary Daly, Diarmaid Ferriter, Declan Kiberd, Mary Hickman and Cormac O’Grada; writer Frank McGuinness; Olympian John Treacy; legendary sports broadcaster Micheal O Muircheartaigh; former Taoiseach Garrett Fitzgerald, and many more. The panel sessions explored three themes: the Irish Diaspora as agents of political change, Diaspora as creative impulse, and cultural branding in the Diaspora. The final session asked the question “What does the future hold for Ireland and its Diaspora?” It was a day of lively debate, with contrasting views of the Diaspora and the future role of emigrants emerging.
One of the highlights was the awarding of the UCD John Hume Medal to former president Mary Robinson. While the award recognised the work Ms Robinson had done on raising the profile of the Irish abroad during her presidency in the 1990s, she made it clear that there were many in Ireland who had not appreciated the importance of the diaspora at the time. She described the response in the Oireachtas as she gave her ground-breaking speech, “Cherishing the Diaspora”: “it was going down like a lead balloon… there was no doubt in my mind that members of the Oireachtas did not want to hear [about the diaspora]”. She said she left the speech, deeply depressed, but then “messages started to come in from all over the world,” and Ms Robinson realised her speech had meant a great deal to the Irish abroad. Ted Kennedy even entered the speech into the US Congressional record. The contrast between the response of the Irish in Ireland and the global Irish response “reinforced my sense that we underestimated our diaspora”, she said.
Much has changed since then, and the Irish Diaspora, of course, is enjoying a high profile in Ireland these days; the recent Farmleigh Conference in particular has raised questions about what role the Irish Diaspora might play in Ireland’s future and its economic development. But the crisis that served as the impetus for this new outreach to the Diaspora has also sparked a renewed uptick in emigration by the young unemployed. It was this dual reality that was at the heart of one of the differences that emerged in the day: whether the dominant image of the Irish worldwide was more accurately portrayed as that of a global professional, entrepreneurial class or that of a sometimes vulnerable, potentially marginalized, migratory workforce at the mercy of the global economy.
Most of the attendees and speakers were at the professional end of the spectrum: this was an event that was pitched at UCD alumni living in London, and with a 55-euro fee and a setting in the Royal Society, the event would probably have seemed inaccessible to less affluent members of the Irish community.
It was a consideration of the most vulnerable Irish emigrants, however, that provoked the most passionate contribution of the day, from writer Frank McGuinness. He discussed Children of the Dead End, the classic emigration novel written by Patrick MacGill, describing MacGill as “one man who spoke out to give voice to the voiceless”. McGuinness outlined MacGill’s depiction of the Irish dispossessed, who had been failed by their families and their society: “their bodies are their own only insofar as they can be rented out for other’s benefits”, and their “contact with home would eventually be reduced to letters that said ‘Send money home’.”
McGuinness said, “May we be forgiven for what we did – and continue to do – to our poorest”. Adding that the vast majority of the new class of emigrants are construction workers who left school young, he suggested that he would “give everyone emigrating a copy of this book”. It would serve as a warning: “You’re up for a fight – and be prepared for it.”
One contributor, former Esat Digiphone CEO Barry Moloney, bridged the gap between the two visions of the diaspora when he envisioned that global Irish professionals had a role to play in preventing emigration in the future. Describing the diaspora as “the single most important thing that can help” in developing Ireland’s economy in the future, he said, “I take that responsibility very seriously”. He said that in forums such as this and the Farmleigh conference, economic strategising by the diaspora was “the number one agenda item if we’re going to help so our kids don’t have to go abroad again.”
The issue of emigrant voting arose during several of the speaker’s contributions. Diarmaid Ferriter was the first to bring it up, noting how Polish politicians had courted the vote of the Poles living in Ireland. He asked, “Would the Irish political situation have been different had the Irish of the 1950s had the vote?”
Mary Hickman noted that the issue of emigrant voting rights was “more taboo” than in the past, even though 115 nations allow emigrant voting rights. She also suggested that the diaspora, Northern Ireland and new immigrants presented a three-prong challenge to Ireland, noting that despite the reform of Article Two of the Constitution, “the national territory and its governance remain ring-fenced”.
This issue provoked the most heated discussion of the day, as former Taoiseach Garrett Fitzgerald suggested that the American Revolution’s famous rallying cry for democracy, “No taxation without representation” needed to be inverted in an Irish context into “No representation without taxation”. He also expressed fears about the candidates that the Irish in America, in particular, might vote for.
Dermot Gallagher, the former secretary-general of the Department of Foreign Affairs, also voiced opposition to the idea of emigrant voting, citing a potential example of a woman in California with one Irish grandparent being eligible to vote (although Mary Hickman had explicitly stated that she was not proposing voting rights for second or later generations). Mr Gallagher did welcome an exploration of the idea of political participation by emigrants through representation in the Seanad, however. Judging from the emotional response to the debate, the role of emigrants in Ireland’s political structures in the future is an issue likely to arise in the future.
Mary Robinson, in one of the closing comments of the conference noted that the Irish diaspora doesn’t just want a connection with Ireland; there is “a notion of being able to reimagine Ireland because we’re making more of a link�. She pointed to the diaspora’s ability to bring greater understanding of our history, to act as a bridge on climate change, and to unite to create huge numbers of jobs as potential benefits of making and remaking connections within the diaspora.
Related web pages:
- UCD’s John Hume Institute – Global Forum page
- Irish Post.co.uk: Co-existence is the way forward
- Irishtimes.com: We must learn from diaspora, says Robinson
Irish diaspora strategist advises Armenia
Wednesday, November 18th, 2009Maynooth-based geography professor Rob Kitchin, the Director of the National Institute of Regional and Spatial Analysis, has been advising Armenian authorities on how they could best engage the diaspora. Kitchin is the co-author of several significant reports on Irish diaspora strategy.
Kitchin told a meeting of the Board of Trustees of Armenian National Competitiveness Fund that creating business networks with the diaspora will allow them to harness the economic power of the diaspora. He suggested the development of networks in technology, financial services, health and tourism.
Ireland has 60 networks over the world with 30,000 members, experienced in dealing with a variety of national governments and in different economic sectors. Â Kitchen suggested that Armenia implement a number of pilot projects, and recommended in particular that it follow the experience of such nations as Scotland and New Zealand. He added that Armenia should develop an elite network that would drive other development projects and create funds for investment.
Related web page:
Armenian News Network – Armenia needs to develop business networks with its diaspora: Rob Kitchin
Irish gems of early cinema showcased in Boston
Tuesday, November 17th, 2009The Boston Irish Film Festival looks like it’s up to great stuff these days. The website is out of action at the festival rebrands, but this month moviegoers are being treated to a look back at the earliest days of Irish cinematic history.
“Blazing the Trail: The Story of the Kalem Film Company in Ireland” is being billed as
a unique multimedia event that takes you back to the early 1910s when pioneering screenwriter/actress Gene Gauntier and director Sidney Olcott of the Kalem Film Company blazed a trail from New York to Killarney-and into history!
Affectionately known as the “O’Kalems,” Gauntier, Olcott, and their crew became the first American filmmakers to shoot overseas and the first to produce films that reflected the realities of the Irish experience. A sentimental mix of rebel dramas, folk romances, and tales of exile and emigration, their films proved tremendously popular with the Irish in America and helped ease the pangs of being so far from home.
I love the idea that these films were made in part to assuage the pangs of homesickness in an immigrant audience. How thrilling – and heartbreaking – it must have been to be able to see Ireland on screen in the earliest days of cinema, thinking that the black-and-white images might be the  closest thing to home you might ever see again.
The programme will consist of a number of these short films, all digitally restored. The original films – some of which haven’t been screened in a century – will be accompanied by a pianist and two vocalists; there will also be a series of recently produced short films recounting the adventures of the Kalem film-makers.
Watch this quirky little preview:
The Boston Film Festival celebrated its tenth anniversary a year ago. Organisations like this (and the New York-based Irish-American Writers and Artists, for example) are a great reminder of the appetite for intelligent contributions on Irish-American heritage, and how much vitality there is on the Irish-American cultural scene; this  vitality is far too  often underestimated here in Ireland, where many people cling to inaccurate and outdated stereotypes of our diaspora.
The event is sponsored by Reel Ireland, the Arts Council, and Culture Ireland. In recent years, there has been an increase in funding available from Ireland for Irish cultural events taking place outside of Ireland – this will surely have a great impact in strengthening the relationship between arts communities abroad and in Ireland, and also with deepening the understanding between Ireland and its diaspora communities.
The programme will be screened on Monday, November 23 at the Coolidge Corner Theatre, Harvard Street in Brookline; tickets cost $9.75.
If you’re not near Boston, you can watch (most of) “The Lad from Old Ireland” on YouTube (I think it’s from a German print, so it’s complete with a little bit of German text). Directed by Sydney Olcott and released in 1910, it’s the first American film shot on location outside the US. Eleven highly entertaining minutes of melodrama!  Part 1 and Part 2.
Related web pages:
- Boston Irish Film Festival on Facebook
- Boston Irish Film Festival website
- IrishEmigrant.com – Blazing the Trail: the incredible story of early film in Ireland
Political participation by the Irish abroad – Irish Times
Saturday, November 14th, 2009Paul Gillespie has an article in today’s Irish Times calling for the formation of an organisation that would act as a representative body for the 70 million Irish abroad.
He mentions this website as a source for more information on global emigrant voting rights — here are some links to more of what I’ve written on the topic:
- Factsheet on emigrant voting
- Expat Voting, Global Style
- Letter to the Irish Times on emigrant voting rights
I’ve also got a factsheet on diaspora strategy, although it’s in need of some updating.
I have long had an interest in the diaspora strategies of other European nations, and I’m the Irish representative and vice-president of Europeans Throughout the World, a body comprised of the expat representative associations of the nations of Europe.
Here are some posts highlighting their activities:
- European group calls for EU Commissioner for European expats
- ETTW issues response to Paris declaration
- Proposals on European emigrants passed at Paris meeting