A social psychologist has said that the changing nature of emigration means that Ireland is likely to come under increasing pressure to allow its emigrants to vote. Dr Marc Scully completed his PhD thesis, “Discourses of Authenticity and National Identity among the Irish Diaspora in Englandâ€?, in the Open University’s Psychology Department last year. He… Continue reading Social psychologist says emigrant vote issue won’t go away

The Bank of Ireland has revised its economic forecast to reflect a gloomier situation than it had previously predicated. The Bank’s latest quarterly economic outlook says that the economy will grow by 0.5% in 2011, down from the 1.5% growth rate it had previously predicted. The Irish Examiner reports this downward revision comes following the… Continue reading High unemployment suggests lower emigration, says BOI

The University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana is working on an online database of Irish oral history that will allow users to upload their stories themselves. The project, headed by Deb Rotman, the director of undergraduate studies in the Department of Anthropology, is aimed particularly at capturing tales from the generation of immigrants… Continue reading Notre Dame setting up Irish oral history archive

There’s a good article on emigration in Blastmagazine.com, written by a young woman who is still at home, but feeling a bit forlorn as her friends emigrate.  Brenda Collins writes: I’m not so desperate that this recession is making me lonely. But with most of my friends more likely to be making a living in… Continue reading “I feel like I’m the only one left”: One young writer on emigration

Every St Patrick’s Day, I am reminded of my favourite book, The Hard Road to Klondike, and Micheál MacGowan’s poignant story of St Patrick’s Day in All Gold Creek in the Yukon. In case you’re not familiar with the book, it’s the translation from Irish of the oral memoir of Donegal native Micheál MacGowan’s adventures… Continue reading “My heart leaped up with so much joy”: Happy St Patrick’s Day!

A recent edition of the Economist published an interesting graphic showing inward and outward migration based on both historic data and on forecasts from the Economic and Social Research Institute. The graph, however, shows that the ESRI is predicting a strong downturn in outward migration starting this year, and a similarly significant upsurge in immigration.… Continue reading Are we being too optimistic?