Economy

We must do more to welcome Irish people returning home

Many returning emigrants are highly skilled and hugely valuable for our economy

Ireland’s population is exceptional in the extent to which people here have experienced life outside Ireland. Photograph: iStock/Getty Images

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John FitzGerald
Fri Apr 19 2024 - 06:00

Today the proportion of the Irish-born population living abroad is the lowest in almost two centuries, reflecting the success of the economy over the past 50 years.

After the disaster of the Famine in the 1840s, there was a prolonged surge in emigration. The share of the Irish-born population living abroad peaked in 1881 at 40 per cent. This ratio fell somewhat over subsequent decades, although emigration rates remained high. By 1911, 30 per cent of Irish-born people were living abroad, mainly in the US.

In the decades after independence, as entry to the US became more restrictive, the destination of our emigrants shifted, largely to Britain. Continued high exit rates reflected the gap in living standards between Ireland and Britain.

The second World War slowed the outflow somewhat, but exceptionally high outward migration resumed in the immediate postwar years as a result of the very poor performance of the Irish economy at that time. By 1961, when the Irish population reached its nadir, 30 per cent of those born here were again living abroad, mainly in Britain. However, with a pickup in the economy from the early 1960s, emigration gradually declined.

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Over the last 60 years, fewer of our young emigrants have left Ireland permanently. Many of those who leave in their 20s are ‘homing pigeons’, returning to Ireland in their 30s

The growing success of the Irish economy from the 1970s saw the development of a pattern of substantial return migration. Some of those who left in the bleak 1950s, thinking never to return, found jobs here in the 1970s. Over the last 60 years, fewer of our young emigrants have left Ireland permanently. Many of those who leave in their 20s are “homing pigeons”, returning to Ireland in their 30s. Although we still have a lot of outward movement, the net result is that the proportion of the Irish-born population living abroad has now fallen to 15 per cent. Half of them live in Britain, the remainder are scattered over a wide number of countries, bringing the GAA and a fondness for Tayto right around the globe.

Since 2000, the rate of inflow to Ireland, comprising both immigrants and returning emigrants, has averaged 1.8 per cent of the population. In terms of composition, today 9 per cent of the population are returned emigrants and 20 per cent are immigrants, with higher shares among those in their 30s. The 1950s emigrants who came home account for almost 20 per cent of our over-80s population.

Worldwide, only 3 per cent of people migrate – a proportion that has remained remarkably stable over the last century. So Ireland’s population is exceptional in the extent to which people here have experienced life outside Ireland. Both new arrivals and returned emigrants have brought significant experience from their work abroad, raising national productivity and economic growth. A measure of this is that returnees earn 10 per cent more than stay-at-homes.

[ Immigration rose significantly in 2022-23, but emigration grew too ]

The great majority of inward migrants came here to work or study – refugees and asylum seekers are just a small fraction of the total. Overall, new arrivals are, on average, as well educated as the Irish, while those arriving from the EU15, the UK, US, Australia, India and Brazil are all more likely than the rest of us to have a degree.

Just as Irish emigrants for two centuries have helped shape the societies where they settled, so too our new arrivals help Irish society become more open and diverse

Highly qualified immigrants, and returners, play a key role in our economy, particularly in those sectors where pay and productivity is highest. In IT, almost 60 per cent of the workforce are either foreign-born or returned emigrants. Workers born abroad, or who have lived there, constitute between 40 and 50 per cent of the workforce in manufacturing, business services, and the health sector. Our health service couldn’t function without the 30 per cent of immigrants and 15 per cent of returned emigrants it employs. Migration powers many of our public and personal services.

[ Connectivity key to Ireland's successful migration story ]

Over many years, the New to the Parish column in this paper has illustrated the experience of those coming to live and work here through individuals’ stories, most of them highly positive. Tackling the housing shortage remains the outstanding challenge.

[ Ireland’s progress has been driven by openness - to trade and to immigration ]

It is vital that we continue to attract back our young people, and highly skilled people from all over the world, not just because this raises economic growth, but also because it enriches our society. Just as Irish emigrants for two centuries have helped shape the societies where they settled, so too our new arrivals help Irish society become more open and diverse. Good coffee, amazing spices, and sporting prowess are some of the other visible benefits.

A thousand years ago, the Vikings kidnapped Irish women and took them to Iceland. Today, many foreign-born partners come willingly to Irish shores to accompany a returning emigrant. Over one in seven children born here is the fruit of such a “mixed marriage”. It signals how well-integrated into Irish society so many of our new arrivals are.

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