debate on emigration
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Irish people are drawn to stories, and the one we like to tell ourselves is that we’re victims. A spiritual, lyrical, tragic people who have never been fully in charge of our own fate; always prey to some bigger, bullying outside agent. Emigration is one of the great themes in our national narrative and it serves as a sort of perpetual epilogue; the tragic end to most chapters of our history.
This would lead one to believe that emigration is inevitable. That is a mistake. Emigration will only remain an Irish problem as long as we create a context in which it can flourish.
What got us into the situation we’re in right now? At the most basic level, it was an attitude to political life that is immature. A mentality that regarded things such as proper regulation and genuine restraint as inconvenient obstacles to getting stuff done and taking care of people. The political system that led us into this crisis is a sort of incubator for mediocrity and corruption, a fertile ground for crises leading to emigration in a never-ending cycle.
Every time a generation emigrates the impetus for change is lost.
Emigration relieves the pressure on the Irish system, both economically and politically. The people who could be best expected to demand change are scattered to the winds. It’s a vicious cycle and to break it, our generation must remain here. We are a generation that is better educated, more progressive and possibly more let down by the Irish themselves than at any time in the past. These things should compel us to call for change, both in our attitudes and in our institutions.
It is not an inevitability that Ireland has to be prey to fate. Being forced to emigrate by the vagaries of chance and incompetence shouldn’t be what it quintessentially means to be Irish; not any more. An Ireland that has the confidence to demand a better quality of politics and politicians is one that can break the cycle of crisis and emigration. We’re at a critical juncture right now and if we can bring to bear the talents of the young, we can fulfil the actual and not just the rhetorical legacy of all those Irishmen and women who fought for the right of self-governance in the past
This would lead one to believe that emigration is inevitable. That is a mistake. Emigration will only remain an Irish problem as long as we create a context in which it can flourish.
What got us into the situation we’re in right now? At the most basic level, it was an attitude to political life that is immature. A mentality that regarded things such as proper regulation and genuine restraint as inconvenient obstacles to getting stuff done and taking care of people. The political system that led us into this crisis is a sort of incubator for mediocrity and corruption, a fertile ground for crises leading to emigration in a never-ending cycle.
Every time a generation emigrates the impetus for change is lost.
Emigration relieves the pressure on the Irish system, both economically and politically. The people who could be best expected to demand change are scattered to the winds. It’s a vicious cycle and to break it, our generation must remain here. We are a generation that is better educated, more progressive and possibly more let down by the Irish themselves than at any time in the past. These things should compel us to call for change, both in our attitudes and in our institutions.
It is not an inevitability that Ireland has to be prey to fate. Being forced to emigrate by the vagaries of chance and incompetence shouldn’t be what it quintessentially means to be Irish; not any more. An Ireland that has the confidence to demand a better quality of politics and politicians is one that can break the cycle of crisis and emigration. We’re at a critical juncture right now and if we can bring to bear the talents of the young, we can fulfil the actual and not just the rhetorical legacy of all those Irishmen and women who fought for the right of self-governance in the past
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