A third of Irish living abroad intend to return home, according to a large survey released on Thursday.
The consultation included 10,000 members of the Irish diaspora, as well as in-person meetings in 17 countries. These produced 23 commitments forming the basis of Ireland’s Diaspora Strategy 2026-2030.
The paper is being discussed at Thursday’s Global Irish Civic Forum in Dublin, which includes an address by President Catherine Connolly and prominent Irish emigrant panellists including departing Glamour magazine editor Samantha Barry and Dr Mike Ryan, former executive director of the World Health Organisation.
Improving support and information for those Irish planning to move abroad as well as emigrants hoping to return home are two of the strategy’s commitments.
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Helping people be prepared to leave and supporting them when they are abroad is a “duty of care and it’s a new way of looking at our diaspora”, Minister of State for the Diaspora Neale Richmond told The Irish Times.
“We’re not just sending them off and forgetting about them. We’re going to be there with them as part of their journey, and the vast majority will come back, which is great.
“But those that won’t come back will be key contacts for Irish people, Irish businesses and Irish governments, for years.”
The emigration story today is no longer the same as the past, he said. “It’s not like the ‘50s when everyone went and no one came back.
“I think moving abroad is a brilliant thing,” added Richmond, noting how “transformative” it can be for enhancing skills.
[ ‘Leaving Ireland is a rupture. Life splits into the before and the after’Opens in new window ]
The cost of living and housing are among the issues “frequently mentioned” by Irish abroad as barriers to return, according to the survey carried out by the Diaspora Institute.
Two-thirds of respondents were born in Ireland and a third were ancestral diaspora. Some 40 per cent were aged under 45, with the highest response rate from key Irish diaspora centres: the US, UK, Canada, Australia and France.
“You can’t shy away from it [cost of living], it’s a big issue,” Richmond said. “It’s not as big an issue for those returning as perhaps those leaving. Because you’re returning at a different stage of life,” he said, noting some may return with high levels of savings.
Administrative hurdles to returning were among the concerns of the Irish diaspora surveyed. Irish emigrants in the US have recently spoken about a lack of reciprocal exchange for driving licences.
“We’re at an advanced stage with New York,” said Richmond about the issue, with hopes of the first agreement with a US state “concluded imminently”.
With immigration reform off the table for the next few years, Irish illegals are being helped to “get their affairs in order” by emigrant groups with Government funding, Richmond said.
“We are seeing an increasing amount of people self-deporting [from the US],” he said, with US emigrants also raising concerns due to their sexual orientation, race or political views.
Inquiries from people in the US with Irish ancestry about gaining citizenship through the Foreign Births Register have increased sharply, according to the Minister.
The first Irish ceremony for such diaspora getting Irish passports was held in San Francisco on St Patrick’s Day and Richmond would like to see more of them.
“It gives us a great opportunity, not only to market [Ireland], but also for them to be put in touch with the Irish groups ... and make sure they know their Irish passport isn’t just a document,” he said.
The strategy also focuses on the opportunities of increased connection. The diaspora can provide “economic opportunity” in a “changing world”, said Richmond.
“There are people who are isolationist ... implementing very worrying economic policies,” he said.
The changing nature of the Irish diaspora and of vulnerabilities is another key theme. Vulnerable communities in the UK could provide a “template” for supporting vulnerable emigrants in Australia or Canada in 20 years’ time, Richmond said.
