The recurring motif of this weekend’s Working Abroad Expo at Dublin’s RDS was the maple leaf, with many attendees saying they were looking for the chance of a new life in Canada.
The attendees were a mixed bunch: mainly ranging between their 20s and 50s; singles, couples and families; those enthusiastically setting out on a foreign adventure and those going because they feel they have no other choice.
Zadrhiena Noone (36) from Finglas, Dublin, who was made redundant recently, was forthright when asked why she had attended the event: “We are emigrating to Canada as soon as possible.”
She said that, even when she was working, she and her partner’s work hours meant “we’d barely see each other”.
“I’m going over for the lifestyle, just for the family lifestyle alone . . . I want to be able to have enough money left over to buy my children shoes and clothes,” she said.
Martina Maher, with her husband Jerry Quinn and their three children Siobhán (12), Kathleen (10) and Liam (7), said they were looking for the options for a family in Canada or New Zealand.
“We want to go before we’re forced to go,” Ms Maher said, adding that she was out of work while her husband’s job was uncertain. She felt Canada could offer job opportunities, tax benefits and a family-oriented culture “compared to here [where] it’s just doom and gloom and taxation on the way”.
Michelle Noone from Caltra in Galway, who was there with her husband Declan, said they were going because “we can’t see things getting any better here”. But there were also those who said they were going out of choice. Ruth O’Neill (25) from Dublin, an employed chemical engineer, said she was looking forward to the chance to live and work abroad.
Johanne Doucet, of building company LaFarge, said they had received over 100 applications for 10 assured jobs, adding that the company’s “big problem” was that it had too many applications.