'Bouncing Irish' are migrating to Australia in larger numbers.
Increasing numbers of young Irish people are deserting their home country hoping to immigrate to Australia.
Figures released by the Australian government show a 25% increase in Australian residency visas being issued to Irish people, whilst working holiday visas for Australia issued to the Irish has also soared by 33%.
So what is behind this trend of young Irish people leaving Ireland for Australia? Just ten years ago Ireland was a booming country that was having to take in migrant workers of its own to fulfil demand. The construction industry was booming and many large companies such as Dell, Intel and Microsoft were lured to Ireland on the basis of cheap labour and low tax rates.
By 2007 unemployment had fallen from 18% to just 4.5% and Ireland was fast becoming one of the wealthiest countries in Western Europe. However just one year later that was all to chance as Ireland became the first European country to officially enter into recession.
Whilst other countries around the globe are now slowly starting to ease themselves into recovery, Ireland is still struggling. Unemployment has risen to 12.7%, retail sales are down 7.5% and Gross Domestic Product is down by 7.4%. Ireland also faces a huge cost in bailing out the banks, around 13.9% of its GDP, higher than the UK and the US.
And so many of the Irish are packing their bags and leaving, heading for the UK, America, Canada and Australia. The Central Statistics Office showed figures of 18,400 Irish emigrating out of Ireland in 2009. The Economic and Social Research Institute are predicting that figure will rise to 40,000 people during the first half of 2010.
And why Australia? Well Australia narrowly avoided the global recession and in fact, many parts of Australia, including Western Australia, are currently going through a boom in the mining industries. Highly skilled workers are sought after as Australia seeks to lure skilled young people to its shores.
It’s impossible to say if any of those migrates will return to Ireland once the country starts showing signs of recovery. However as most of the visas applied for are temporary working visas by those under 30, Ireland hopes that its young citizens are simply trying to ride out the recession. Perhaps they have learnt a lesson from the Poles and Latvians who emigrated to Ireland during the Celtic Tiger boom and then returned home with money in their pockets to spend in their own countries.
If you are interested in Australian immigration or are wondering which Australian visa is right for you, have a look at our living in Australia guide. Why not join our online forum too? It’s free and our members are happy to give advice and support whether you want to emigrate to Australia, take a working holiday or just want to find out what it’s like. Bookmark this page too for all the latest news on Australia immigration, travel and culture.
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