YOUNG PEOPLE PESSIMISTIC ABOUT IRELAND’S FUTURE?

Class Assignment

Irish people have always been famous for their willingness to leave Ireland. The trend started in the Famine, when people had little or no choice to leave, but it’s hardly stopped since.

For the ten years of the Celtic Tiger the trend was reversed, and people came to Ireland instead of leaving it. But with the recession, it’s business as usual. Irish people are emigrating in droves. Recent statistics from the Central Statistics Office show that emigration is up 17% since last April.

Students in NUI Galway on the whole are pessimistic on Ireland’s future. Shannon Holton, 19, believed that young people aren't given an incentive to stay. “The government don’t do enough,” she said. She would consider emigration after college just to “get a job”.

A survey of over thirty NUIG students over two days found that there are mixed feelings among the youth of Ireland. The vast majority of respondents knew someone who had emigrated. “I know lots of people who have emigrated- practically my whole village," said Martin Tully, 20.

Sarah Whelehan, also 20, agrees. Two of her sisters have moved abroad. “Every weekend there’s a going-away party at home," she said.

But with the world becoming an increasingly smaller place is emigration as serious as it once was? Áine Coughlan, 21, is keen to stress that many of the newly-emigrated she knows will come home. “It’s on a yearly basis, it’s not permanent,” she added. 

Only two students of the thirty definitely ruled out emigrating when they had finished their degree. 18 year-old Hannah Carroll would not move abroad. “I’m a homebird,” she explained.

Many see emigration as the only option.
Image: Sky News

Leaving home would be too much of a wrench for some. “My family is here,” said Lucia Egan, 19.

Among many the attitude was “I’ll move if I have to.” Many feel Ireland lacks opportunities for them. “There are no jobs in the course I’m studying.” Jason Hoare, 21, a Zoology student, said. He explained that Zoology was an extremely specialised subject with very few opportunities in Ireland. 

But the attitude to emigration is not always bleak. For Maria Kennedy, 19, from Limerick,  it's an opportunity. “I don’t want to be on the dole... Everyone who’s gone abroad is having a great time- and a job.” Her friend Louise O’Brien, 21, from Clare, agreed. “There are more opportunities abroad. I’d like to come home with experience.” She sees herself working in a better economy to gain experience and then returning to Ireland in a few years. 

There is no doubt that the prevailing atmosphere in today's Ireland is negative. The Irish public are constantly warned of further hardships by media and government.  Did NUI Galway students feel that Ireland held a good future for them? The students surveyed had mixed feelings. Some were pessimistic. “Our generation has not got a hope,” said John Dempsey, 21. Other students also felt doom and gloom. “I don’t think there’s much future here except in the dole queue," said Karen O'Leary, 21.

But there was a surprising level of optimism in some of the respondents. James O’Malley, 20, thinks we have a bright future “provided we create jobs indigenously.” Martin Tully believes that we’re in a better position now. “It [Ireland] does [have a positive future] with the current government compared to the last one. It’s heading in the right direction," he said.

The innately Irish cynical streak hasn't gone away. Tara Keena, 19, thinks Ireland has a bright future... “In about fifty years!”