Boston Globe articles highlight changing migration patterns

The Boston Globe has run a two-part series of articles focusing on the experiences of the Irish in Boston. By Kevin Cullen, the series opens with a description of a new version of the "American Wake" - a goodbye held in Quincy pub for an undocumented couple as they prepare to head home for Ireland, giving up their Boston lives after seven years. The article describes how the Irish immigrant experience has changed dramatically as the community shrinks and enforcement increases.

The second article in the series describes the experiences of those who have conm home, and how returning emigrants are coping with the changes that have taken place in the last few years.

Read the series:
"Wave of Irish immigration to Boston begins to slow".
"Going full circle: Native land's new prosperity has many reversing their exodus"

Sligo County Council says returning emigrants have right to build homes

The Cathaoirleach of Sligo County Council has told the Sligo Association in London that the county is helping to bring emigrants home, according to a story in the Sligo Weekender.

Councillor Jim McGarry said, “From Sligo County Council’s perspective, I am pleased that the status of returning emigrants has been actively promoted in our County Development Plan. This plan outlines an explicit entitlement for returning emigrants to build their homes in their native community, and I feel this is a right that is fully deserved”.

He also praised the volunteers working with the emigrant community: “I have the highest regard for the many volunteers who give of their time and energy to assist our people in London.”

See the report on the Sligo Weekender website.
http://www.sligoweekender.ie/news/story.asp?j=31409&cat=business

Cork IT group invites returnees

A networking organisation for IT professionals in the Cork region, IT@Cork, is offering itself as a tool for returning emigrants to ease their integration back into local industry. The organisation recently published an article entitled "Support for Returning Emigrants" on its website.

The article addresses how organisations are looking to returning Irish emigrants as a way of address hiring shortages in the IT industry; it also outlines some of the tax benefits that returnees can avail of. It notes that "11% of all 'High Potential Startup Projects' funded by Enterprise Ireland were started by returning emigrants".

The article concludes with encouragement:

If you are considering returning home, the employment prospects could not be better. The Irish IT industry is a stable and mature industry, where experience and expertise are rewarded. A number of agencies, both public and private, are there to help you with the transition, whether that be to join an existing company or to assist you in setting up your own company. If you haven’t thought of moving back, maybe now is time to give it some consideration.

Read the article on the it@Cork website.
Visit the it@cork website.

Minister invites emigrants home at FAS NY event

Minister of State for Labour Tony Killeen spoke at the launch of the FAS Jobs Ireland New York event. He gave a background of Irish emigration and told the story of Ireland's economic success in recent decades. He declared:

If you are an Irish person who emigrated to the United States ten or fifteen years ago you will find that the Ireland of today is dramatically different from the country you left. To Irish people who are thinking of returning to Ireland we say: Now is the time to come home. Instead of the depressed country you left behind you will find instead a wide range of jobs and opportunities. There has never been a better time to live and work in Ireland.

His entire speech is on the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment's website.

Returning emigrants featured in The Dubliner

Returning emigrants are the subject of an article in the oft-controversial The Dubliner magazine. In an article entitled "Lame Geese", reporter Angela Long details the experiences of several returning emigrants. She highlights particular difficulties in getting job searching, along with some culture shock as emigrants who left in pre-boom times come back to confront the rising materialism and pro-business culture. The reporter notes that all of the returnees she spoke with, however, had "resigned themselves to living in Ireland, warts and all".

The full article is at The Dubliner's website.

Returning emigrants need info, says Brennan

Unison.ie’s breaking news reports that Social Affairs Minister Seamus Brennan, speaking as he presented a cheque for €200,000 to the Emigrant Advice service, said that returnees must have all the up-to-date information needed to make the return process as smooth as possible. The report noted that 20,000 Irish people are coming home every year.

Returning emigrants exempt from home-building rules

Returning emigrants will be exempt from Donegal County Council rules aimed at limiting the number of holiday homes in the county, according to the Irish Independent. The paper reports that the new 2006-2012 County Development Plan requires home buyers about to purchase a house in one of the county’s 1,500 townlands where holiday homes comprise more than 20% of housing stock must sign a contract pledging to live in the house for seven years. Exceptions are being proposed for returning emigrants and accommodation proposed as part of an overall tourism package.