LGW LGW TO TO ROW ROW FLIGHT FLIGHT CARRIER CARRIER LGW LGW GATWICK GATWICK LONDON LONDON TO TO ROW ROWFLIGHT FLIGHT CARRIER CARRIER GATWICK GATWICK LONDON LONDON LGW LGW TO TO ROW ROW FLIGHT FLIGHT CARRIER CARRIER GATWICK GATWICK No. 8 No. 8 No. LONDON LONDON IRE IRE No. 8 No. 8 No. IRE 3 3 CARRIER IRE IRE 7 7 No. 8 No. 8 No. TO 3 3 SYDNEY 7 7 YYC IRE IRE Calgary FLIGHT TO YYC 3 3 7 7 SYD Flight Flight FLIGHT No. 375 Transair ROW London Heathrow 52000 Destination LHR 144-538IRISH TRANS-ATLANTIC/PACIFIC AIRWAYS Weight FLIGHT: KGS FLIGHT SEAT ROW SEAT MEL TO: Melbourne Seat No. 724 BNE Date Brisbane Boarding Pass M-A-N 14–03–12 Manchester TIME TO GO? A Qualitative Research Study Exploring IRE the Experience & Impact of Emigration CARRIER on Ireland’s Youth TO SYDNEY Flight Flight IRE YYC CARRIER Calgary Destination IRISH TRANS-ATLANTIC/PACIFIC AIRWAYS FLIGHT TO Weight FLIGHT: YYC Transair TO 52000 SYD LONDON KGS LHRLondon Heathrow TO: FLIGHT No. 375 GATWICK ROW IRE 144-538 MEL FLIGHT SEAT ROW SEAT Melbourne CARRIER Seat No. 724 BNE Date LGW IRE 14–03–12 Brisbane TO SYDNEY FLIGHT CARRIERNo. 837 ROW Boarding Pass M-A-N Manchester TO YYC 4 4 Calgary SYDNEY FLIGHT TO 4 4 YYC T-61 YYC T-61 SYD Calgary FLIGHT No. 375 FLIGHT TO YYC YYZ ROW SYDToronto 144-538 YYZ 1–20–12 Toronto FLIGHT 1–20–12 No. 375 YUL ROW 144-538 YUL RECEIVED DAMAGED RECEIVED DAMAGED 4 PERISHABLE FRAGILE Airlines, Inc OTHER-Owner’s Risk 4 PERISHABLE FRAGILE TORONTO Airlines, Inc OTHER-Owner’s Risk TORONTO 1–20–12 1–20–12 The National Youth Council of Ireland (NYCI) is the representative body for national voluntary youth work organisations in Ireland. It represents and supports the interests of voluntary youth organisations and uses its collective experience to act on issues that impact on young people. National Youth Council of Ireland 3 Montague Street Dublin 2 Ireland www.youth.ie T: +353 (0)1 478 4122 E: [email protected] First published in 2013 by: © National Youth Council of Ireland 2013. All rights reserved. Printed in Ireland by: Print Project ISBN: 978-1-900210-25-6 Research funded by the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government. TIME TO GO? A Qualitative Research Study Exploring the Experience & Impact of Emigration on Ireland’s Youth By Marie-Claire McAleer National Youth Council of Ireland April 2013 Contents 4 Glossary of Abbreviations 5 Foreword 6 Researcher’s Acknowledgements 7 Executive Summary 10 Chapter 1 – Introduction 16 Chapter 2 – Research Strategy & Methodology 22 Chapter 3 – Literature Review 32 Chapter 4 – The Story so Far… 38 Chapter 5 – Being a Young Emigrant in the UK 40 5.1 – Life in the UK for a young Irish emigrant 41 5.2 – Reasons for emigrating 42 5.3 – Emigration – An Adventure 43 5.4 – Challenges encountered on arrival 45 5.5 – Views on the current economic situation in Ireland 46 5.6 – Irish networks and connections 47 5.7 – Financing postgraduate studies 47 5.8 – Access to health care 48 5.9 – The social life 49 5.10 – Supports 49 5.11 – The importance of building networks and making connections 50 5.12 – Intentions to return home 50 5.13 – Expectations for Ireland in the future 51 5.14 – Emigrant’s advice to prospective emigrants 51 5.15 – Emigrant’s advice to the Irish Government to support emigrants 52 5.16 – Plans for the future 52 5.17 – Profiling emigrants 54 Chapter 6 – Being a Young Emigrant in Canada 56 6.1 – Likes and Dislikes What do you miss about home? 57 6.2 – The Canadian Labour Market The importance of Canadian work experience Preparation is the key to success 60 6.3 – Reasons for emigrating Feelings about leaving 61 6.4 – Funding 61 6.5 – Challenges settling into life in Toronto Geographical spread and no hub Commuting Mobile phone contracts Credit history 63 6.6 – Accommodation 64 6.7 – Hanging out with other Irish 64 6.8 – Cultural differences 64 6.9 – The social life 65 6.10 – Staying in touch 65 6.11 – Supports to make the move easier 66 6.12 – Health Insurance The Ontario Health Insurance Programme 67 6.13 – Emigrant’s advice to prospective emigrants 68 6.14 – Emigrant’s advice to the Irish Government to support emigrants A grant to support emigrants The promotion of foreign languages 69 6.15 – Plans for the future Where do you see yourself in 5 years time? 70 6.16 – Expectations for Ireland in the future 72 Chapter 7 – Emigrant Supports & Employability in Canada 74 7.1 – Supports for Irish Emigrants in Canada 76 7.2 – Understanding & Accessing the Canadian Labour Market 77 7.3 – Provincial Requirements… 80 Chapter 8 – The Impact of Emigration 88 Chapter 9 – Conclusion, Research Findings & Recommendations 99 Limitations of the Study & Opportunities for Further Research 100 Bibliography 103 Appendix A – Information Sheet – Research on Youth Emigration 105 Appendix B – Topic Guide 108 Appendix C – Poll Methodology & Weighting Glossary of Abbreviations 4 AIB Allied Irish Bank A&E Accident & Emergency AIMRO Association of Irish Market Research Organisations CSO Central Statistics Office CV Curriculum Vitae EU European Union EU-SILC European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions ESOMAR European Society of Marketing and Research FAS Irish National Training & Employment Authority FN File Number - An immigration file number is the reference given by the visa office processing the immigration part of an immigrant’s application in Canada FIS Federation of Irish Societies GAA Gaelic Athletic Association GP General Practitioner I/CAN Irish Canadian Immigration Centre ICT Information Communication Technology ID Identification IDA Irish Development Agency – responsible for the attraction and development of foreign investment in Ireland IEC International Experience Canada visa LRM Labour Market Review MRCI Migrant Rights Centre Ireland NEET refers to a young person who is ‘not in education, employment or training’ NESC National Economic Social Council NHS National Health Service NYCI National Youth Council of Ireland OHIP Ontario Health Insurance Programme Paypal PayPal is a global e-commerce business allowing payments and money transfers to be made through the Internet P. Eng. P.Eng. designation is a Canadian provincial professional licence, allowing one to practice engineering as a recognized professional engineer in each province in accordance with engineering professional standards PEO Professional Engineers Ontario PPS Personal Public Service number in Ireland RDD Random Digit Dial ROI Republic of Ireland SA Small Area SMS Short Message Service TD Teachta Dála - a member of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas (the Irish Parliament). The official translation of the term is “Deputy to the Dáil” Twitter Twitter is an online social networking service and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based messages of up to 140 characters, known as “tweets” UCC University College Cork Uni Abbreviation for the word university UK United Kingdom USA United States of America US United States Viber is a communications application WhatsApp WhatsApp messenger is a cross-platform mobile messaging application which allows you to exchange messages without having to pay for SMS Foreword 5 Mary Cunningham Director Emigration can be defined as going and settling in another country. The reasons for this are vast and there are many contributing push and pull factors causing an individual to leave their home and move to another country. For some the push factors are so great that they are forced to leave because of economic necessity whilst others leave for adventure and different and new experiences with the intention of returning home some day. Time to Go? tells the story of a generation of young people who have left their homeland in droves against a backdrop of economic recession. For many young Irish people, emigration is the only viable option open to them at the present time. Emigration is once again a prevailing part of Irish life. Every day a mother or father waves goodbye to their child in the hope that some day they will return. The figures speak for themselves: z Over the past 2 years over a quarter of our population has been affected by the emigration of a close family member (NYCI Poll conducted by Red C, October 2012). z One in two of our 18 – 24 years olds would consider emigrating themselves (NYCI Poll conducted by Red C, October 2012). Many of our young exports are highly skilled and highly educated. Many are empowered with the knowledge to progress and achieve great things in their new country. Their experience of leaving, however, may be no less heart wrenching. They are leaving a country which during the economic boom offered them much work and now they are forced to leave to find work abroad. All emigrants have important insights to share on the experience of emigration. Questions such as: how it felt arriving in a new country, what challenges they encountered, how they settled into their new home, how they overcame some of the teething problems they experienced, what advice they would give to Government and to the next phase of emigrants are key aspects of this study. The research also reveals the social and emotional side of emigration. The study examines the social and economic policy implications of sustained emigration. It identifies both positive and negative stories and highlights important issues for Government to consider, to support Ireland and its emigrating youth. I welcome the publication of this research, which I believe provides an invaluable insight into the world and experience of young Irish emigrants.