Some of the Irish people who got used to walking into jobs have cut their losses and are riding out the recession in Buenos Aires
WHILE LOOKING for work experience during his third year studying economics at Trinity College Dublin, David Slattery realised that the times were changing.
In contrast to previous years, internships for his intake were hard to come by. He finally found one with a foreign bank but that fell through when the bank went bust. It was an ominous portent for what lay ahead and in stark contrast to the optimism, on entering university, that exciting, well-paid jobs would be waiting for whoever wanted them on graduation.
Slattery estimates that since graduating in June, a third of his year group have gone travelling, with a similar number signing up to do masters’ degrees and only a third going straight into jobs, a much smaller percentage than in previous years.
Once it became clear that a job in investment banking was not going to materialise, he had to get creative and so decided to gather his savings and relocate to Buenos Aires.
The city probably never featured prominently on lists of where older generations went to escape previous Irish slumps but then, this time around, the traditional recessionary outlets are also down on their luck.
Friends who had visited raved about one of the world’s most exciting cities. First-time visitors from Ireland are often surprised at just how sophisticated the city South Americans consider their continent’s most urbane capital actually is.
The boulevards remind you of Paris or Madrid, while the social life compares easily with London or New York. But the buzz in the air is Latin and the prices are far lower than anywhere near to home, even in these deflationary times.
For recent Irish émigrés planning to spend some time here while waiting for the tide to turn at home, this cut-price cosmopolitanism is a welcome attraction, as they look for somewhere to make savings and severance packages last longer.
Probably not since the 1860s and the arrival of Argentina’s original Irish community has this South American country with a dubious economic reputation been seen as a bolthole for those looking to escape hard times at home. “I love it here. The locals are very friendly, the standard of living is great and the weather is fantastic,” says Slattery.
Another recent arrival is Niamh Haughey, who decided to take a severance package from a failing bank back home. She had visited Argentina in 2004 and always thought about coming back to learn Spanish. “Some time out is good for you. I had a job in the boom and now have decided to do some travelling during the recession,” she says.
While some, such as Slattery and Haughey, are open to the idea of work experience to help make the euro they have brought with them go farther, few are planning a permanent move – perhaps just as well, as Argentina’s chaotic economy and stifling bureaucracy makes finding regular jobs a challenge.
For these children of the great Irish bust, goals such as learning Spanish and seeing some of the continent while the recession at home works its way through the job market are more important than carving out a foreign future like their predecessors did in London and Boston in the 1980s.
There are no official numbers to indicate how many young Irish people are making Buenos Aires their recessionary escape valve. Jason Murphy, a long-time Irish resident and owner of the popular Shamrock Bar, says there were always Irish passing through Buenos Aires.
“But before, they were on holiday or taking a year out from their job. In the last few months I have seen young Irish people showing up, looking to spend some time here and asking for work, which you didn’t really see before,” he says. Among his bar staff he now counts one former bank employee.
These new Irish arrivals are part of a broader migratory trend south by young northern high-flyers hit by the downturn. Recent Buenos Aires gatherings organised by the exclusive, online social network, A Small World, included many “resting” bankers and private equity types from Europe and North America, with a smattering of Irish reported among them. “Before the global recession I had no Irish clients, now I have four that I am helping to apply for residency visas,” says Buenos Aires immigration lawyer Gabriel Celano.
“Before the crisis I helped many Americans who wanted to move here to retire. Now the age profile is becoming younger. You see laid-off lawyers and bankers from the US and Europe, who received a pay-off, coming down here. Most are not looking to settle long term, just for a few years. Many say they are evaluating business opportunities or want to learn Spanish. Others come to party because here they can do more with less money,” says Celano.
But even if it all sounds far more glamorous than the boat to Holyhead, there is still resentment among these Celtic Tiger kids about the economic calamity that hit during the first years of their working careers.
“There is a lot of resentment at home. Our generation had no problems with money and jobs were easy to get. Now is the first time we are experiencing a recession and we have no idea how it will go,” says Darragh Brady, another recent arrival in Buenos Aires.
After several years working in finance in London, the 31-year old Dublin native looked to move home and set up a business but banks refused to lend him the start-up capital as the downturn began to accelerate.
Looking for a job instead became an exercise in frustration as it soon became apparent there was little or no chance of landing one. So he decided to spend some time in Argentina learning Spanish as he sees “nothing happening” at home for the next year or two.
“I am really angry at the Government. At home there is too much resignation but not enough retribution. Ahern and McCreevy got us into this mess and the fact that no-one is saying this straight out really makes me angry. They were listening to the top economic minds in Ireland and ignored them for the sake of making what were, in my opinion, populist decisions instead of managing the country in a prudent manner.”
For these new Irish emigrants, Buenos Aires may seem like an idyllic escape from the tribulations at home, but it does not mean they have forgotten the circumstances that brought them here.