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Tuesday, July 21st, 2009The McCarthy Report, also known as An Bord Snip, has questioned the benefits of relying on the strategy of spending on research and development as an engine to drive economic growth. One of the reasons it suggests cutting back on R&D spending is the prospect of newly-minted PhDs emigrating.
It questions spending on “Government Budget Outlays and Appropriations for Research and Development” for the following:
- Real returns on investment – There is little evidence that investing in science and technology has had a powerful impact on economic activity
- Rationalisation of funding structures – there are a large number of supports targeting similar activities
- Reducing dependence on Exchequer funding – Exchequer funding has grown as a proportion of gross expenditure on R&D in recent years, suggesting displacement of private business and philanthropic funding by public funding.
- Output of PhDs – here the report says:
In the absence of a clear business need for the doubling of PhDs currently being funded, the Group is concerned that graduates will be underemployed or forced to emigrate. Indeed some empirical evidence suggests that 20% of new doctorate holders find employment overseas, and of those who remain in Ireland, most find employment in the public rather than the private sector.
This sounds like a short-term approach, focusing as it does on a notion of brain drain. In recent years, it’s evident that the model of brain circulation is a more realistic one for Ireland: an increasing number of initiatives are demonstrating that highly talented individuals can continue to play a role in Ireland’s economic development, no matter where they live.
The Irish Technology Leadership Group, in which top Silicon-Valley-based executives are partnering, mentoring, and providing access to investors is only one example of the way in which Ireland’s global high achievers can put their talents to use in Ireland, even when they live abroad.
Of course, some of Ireland’s most talented students would undoubtedly seek PhD funding in other countries if they cannot access it at home. It’s an interesting question as to whether this would affect an individual’s likelihood of participating in diaspora-led initiatives aimed at helping Ireland.
Related websites:
Bord Snip: “Return on science investment not very compelling”
Would diaspora bonds work for Ireland’s finances?
Monday, July 20th, 2009Could diaspora bonds be the overlooked solution to Ireland’s fiscal woes? The financial instrument was discussed at last week’s World Bank conference on diaspora for development. While they are typically discussed in connection with developing nations, the concept is reminiscent both of the centuries-old tradition of emigrant remittances and also of the Irish sweepstakes. Diaspora bonds are generally bonds sold in small denominations to members of the diaspora in order to fund projects at home or help the home nation’s bottom line.
The Crisis Talk blog notes that, “From a policy perspective, diaspora bonds are an excellent means of channeling remittances for investment by directly tapping into the wealth of the diaspora. Much of modern Israel was built with funds from bonds sold to the Jewish diaspora in the United States.”
The blog also points out that diaspora bonds may be most effective when used to fund particular projects.
Much fundraising for Ireland, of course, has been channeled through the American Ireland Funds, which has a particular expertise at targeting particularly wealthy members of the diaspora. Is there an untapped reservoir of good will and cash among less affluent members of the diaspora? One suspects that after a decade of highly publicised economic boom, it might be a hard sell to the global Irish community.
Crisistalk.worldbank.org: Diaspora bonds: an innovative source of finance
Aging immigrant assocations seek younger members
Monday, July 20th, 2009Long-established immigrant organisations in the US are taking new steps to attract younger members, according to an article in the Boston Globe. The paper says that organisations representing a variety of ethnicities are trying to get both newcomers and the children of immigrants involved.
Most of the organisations started to help immigrants to both assimilate and network within immigrant communities; with changing social styles and a reduction in immigrant numbers in some communities, the organisations have noticed that most of their members are older, and few new people have been joining. In response, some of the groups are creating more family activities, highlighting the native culture of Chinese, Italian, and Cuban parents, for example. Others are offering scholarships to appeal to a new generation.
Journalist Maria Sacchetti notes the efforts of an Irish group:
The Ancient Order of Hibernians, a longstanding Irish organization, has a youth group in Lawrence that runs arts and crafts projects and other activities and it is pushing to expand statewide, said Dick Wall, state vice president.
As an older Italian immigrant says,
“The problem is I see we’re into our second and third and fourth generation of Italians,’’ said DiStefano. “They have lost some of the pride and some of the culture. If we don’t stick around to teach them, they’re going to lose it completely.’’
Farewell, Frank McCourt
Monday, July 20th, 2009The death of Irish-American raconteur Frank McCourt at the age of 78 has particularly saddened many in Limerick and New York, his two homes.
Sam Smyth had a particularly nice recall of the writer’s life in Saturday’s Irish Independent.
New books published: “After the Flood” on post-war Irish America, “Musical Traditions of Northern Ireland and its Diaspora”
Friday, July 17th, 2009Two books published this week will surely be of interest to scholars of the Irish diaspora.
“After the Flood: Irish America 1945-1960”, edited by James Silas Rogers and Matthew J. O’Brien, takes a fresh look at the Irish-American experience during the post-war period. The publishers say:
The essays in this volume examine diverse aspects of the Irish-American community during the postwar years and cover both the immigrant community within the US – which witnessed a surge in immigration from Ireland – and the subsequent expressions of an Irish identity among later generation ethnics. Essays consider both social and political history, such as ethnic anti-communism and American responses to Partition, and significant representations of Irish life in popular culture, such as The Last Hurrah (1956) or The Quiet Man (1952). The study shows that the Irish-American community was lively and, in many ways, dissimilar from “mainstream” American life in this period. The supposedly deracinated descendants of earlier immigrants were nonetheless well aware that the larger culture perceived something distinctive about being Irish, and throughout this period they actively sought to define – often in deflected ways – just what that distinctiveness could mean.
“The Musical Traditions of Northern Ireland and its Diaspora: Community and Conflict” is as much about the North’s cultural dynamics as it is about the music itself. From the publishers:
For at least two centuries, and arguably much longer, Ireland has exerted an important influence on the development of the traditional, popular and art musics of other regions, and in particular those of Britain and the United States. During the past decade or so, the traditional musics of the so-called Celtic regions have become a focus of international interest. The phenomenal success of shows such as Riverdance (which appeared in 1995, spawned from a 1994 Eurovision Song Contest interval act) brought Irish music and dance to a global audience and played a part in the further commoditization of Irish culture, including traditional music.
However, there has up to now been relatively little serious musicological study of the traditional music of Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland remains a divided community in which traditional culture, in all its manifestations, is widely understood as a marker of religious affiliation and ethnic identity. Since the outbreak of the most recent ‘troubles’ around 1968, the borders between the communities have often been marked by music. For example, many in the Catholic, nationalist community, regard the music of Orange flute bands and Lambeg drums as a source of intimidation. Equally many in the Protestant community have distanced themselves from Irish music as coming from a different ethnic tradition, and some have rejected tunes, styles and even instruments because of their association with the Catholic community and the Irish Republic. Of course, during the same period many other Protestants and Catholics have continued to perform in an apolitical context and often together, what in earlier times would simply have been regarded as folk or country music.
With the increasing espousal of a discrete Ulster Scots tradition since the signing of the Belfast (or ‘Good Friday’) Agreement in 1998, the characteristics of the traditional music performed in Northern Ireland, and the place of Protestant musicians within popular Irish culture, clearly require a more thoroughgoing analysis. David Cooper’s book provides such analysis, as well as ethnographic and ethnomusicological studies of a group of traditional musicians from County Antrim. In particular, the book offers a consideration of the cultural dynamics of Northern Ireland with respect to traditional music.
For more information:
Cut emigrant services by €1 million, says An Bord Snip
Friday, July 17th, 2009A group examining public spending in the light of the crisis in the Irish economy has recommended a number of cuts that would affect services to the Irish abroad. The group, popularly known as “An Bord Snip”, released its report yesterday.
The report recommends cuts in emigrant services of one million euro. The Department of Foreign Affairs spent €15 million in 2008 on services to the Irish abroad. Of this, about ten million went to Britain, 3.5 million to the US,163,000 to Australia, 146,000 to Canada, and small sums to South Africa, Argentina, Zimbabwe and China. The government spent 1 million on Irish groups providing information to intending and returning emigrants, as well as other services of use to the Irish abroad.
Additionally, it says the scheme providing free passports to those over 65 should be eliminated. This would save €4.6 million.
The report also recommends cutting the number of embassies and consulates around the world from 76 to 55. It says embassies in lower priority countries should be sold and moved to leased property. Staff assigned abroad should have their tax-fee Foreign Service Allowance reduced by 12.5%, which would save a million euro. Ambassador posts salaries would also be downgraded.
It is likely that in a time of rising emigration, these proposed cuts would make providing services to an increasing number of Irish abroad more difficult.
Related web pages:
- Report of the Special Group on Public Service Numbers and Expenditure Programmes
- RTE.ie: Summary of recommended cuts to Foreign Affairs
- Irish Independent: Pensioners hit if free passport scheme gets axe
- EuropeanIrish.com: Recommendations to cut support for Irish emigrants
- 2008 Emigrant Services Grants