Well today was one of those days, not because Brexiters have grasped basic economics and tolerance towards fellow human beings, but because I came across an Irish Writer by the name Aaron Vallely. Vallely is a sharp writer covering topical Irish issues and his work features in the UK edition of The Huffington Post.
The following is a condensed version of an article of his called:
‘Ireland: The Republic of Emigration and Internships’
It was Conor Cruise O’Brien who wrote that: “Irishness is not primarily a question of birth or blood or language ; it is the condition of being involved in the Irish situation, and usually being mauled by it.”
Ireland has a distinguished history of emigration, and for a time while it was an insular theocracy, had an infatuation with exiles. Famine, Recession, and a lack of opportunity have all been contributing factors in young Irish people seeking a better living outside of Ireland. So many of our greatest minds, and notorious social liberators, have been part of that Diaspora.
This once holy land of Ireland, has seen ten million people emigrate from the island since 1800. More Irish people have taken abroad becoming immigrants in other countries, than those whom remain to brazen it out and suffer on our Celtic isle.
Ultimately, in the last five years, we have lost 151,000 people. A throwback to the emigration crises of the 1950s and 1980s, when high unemployment drove thousands of mainly working class people out and away from their homes to seek a livelihood elsewhere.
Through all this, ladies and gentlemen, we are being told that we should not worry, as our bronze haired Celtic warrior-in-chief, Alexander the Average, Enda Kenny, reassures us that he knows what he is doing.
Not necessarily experiencing the same level of unemployment as Spain or Greece, Ireland appears to have experienced significantly higher levels of emigration per capita than other Western European countries, they too affected by the Eurozone crisis. We Irish have paid more in emigration than any of our EU ‘partners’.
When one thinks of the many wrongful reasons some feel for which they are leaving, one should remind oneself that the Irish are paying the billion euro bills of unaccountable gambling bankers, scoundrel bondholders, and idiot politicians, one can then hardly but at all blame them for their evacuation.
Many young people cannot afford to stay and live here so they are moving away. We are at 11.5% unemployment nationally, with 25.1% of those under 25 unemployed.
So what have us young passengers of this Irish economy got to protect ourselves from a potential economic iceberg? A youth guarantee scheme.
To prevent long-term youth unemployment, our Government has launched a programme that will supposedly guarantee young people either a place in education, training, or a job.
One of the conditions of this “Youth Guarantee” is that JobBridge will now become mandatory. JobBridge offers placements for young people in businesses for an additional €50 a week (in addition to social welfare benefit), it is also perhaps the most abused body since the Trojan Horse.
The Youth Guarantee states:
In the case of young people, failures to engage that will give rise to sanctions will include:
Failure to apply for or accept an opportunity on the national internship scheme (JobBridge)
Sanctions will be quite the stinger. Young people could see their Jobseekers payment cut by up to 25%. Not to mention that JobSeekers benefit has already been cut back to €100 a week. So a full week of work on JobBridge would amount to an underwhelming €150.
The loss of taxes paid by workers from the companies is an increased loss for the Irish exchequer, because of the potential revenue accumulated from taxpayers in a job. It also distorts the market as it can see a situation where JobBridge could be increasingly used by companies to reduce labour costs to remain competitive. What begins as a rational scheme by providing young people with experience in the field they are seeking to find work, is then jeopardized by possibly becoming a scheme where more and more employment can only be found through subsidized internships. Ireland, the Republic of Internships and Emigration.
Extract from an article by @Vallmeister first published 02/11/2014
Full article can be found @ http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/aaron-vallely/ireland-migration_b_5756386.html
Picture is Patrick Hennessy’s 1943 painting, “Exiles“