Ireland’s brightest are finding a better life in the land Down Under
IF you want to know where our best and brightest young people are – along with a fair few messers – try Bondi Beach, Perth or Melbourne.
There are record numbers of young Irish travelling to Australia now. In the year up to July last, 21,000 applied for working visas closing in on double the highest numbers during the worst years after the crash.
The number is expected to be even higher. this year. And our politicians seem to be mystified as to why so many of our talented young people would want to travel to the other side of the world, to a country where the sun shines all year, housing is affordable, pay is high and you can afford to run a car.
Yes, why would any young plasterer, nurse or teacher want to give up paying 70% of their wage to rent a converted shed in freezing Ireland? How can they leave that all behind!
Why won’t they stick around here in the most expensive country in Europe for young people and do their bit for the Irish economy! Pure selfish, that’s what they are!
But seriously folks, while emigration has been a blight on this country for centuries, you really couldn’t blame any young Irish lad or lass from getting out of here at the earliest opportunity.
As always, that’s being used as a safety valve by our politicians, who would rather they didn’t stick around asking awkward questions such as ‘Why will I never be able to afford a house?’ or, ‘How come, after working like a dog all week, I can’t afford to put diesel in my motor?”
The only worry for the people running this place is they come back, after spending a few years in a country where they can have a good life if they work hard for it. And work hard they do. There is huge demand for young Irish people in Australia right now because the people hiring know they’re getting highly-skilled grafters.
The last thing Fianna Fail or Fine Gael want is a load of young people coming home and demanding better.
That’s one of the main reasons emigration will be a huge part of Irish life until things change here at home.