The fact that most young Irish people want to emigrate is about “the nature of being young, not the nature of the Irish economy,” Newstalk presenter Kieran Cuddihy has said.
A recent survey by RED C for the National Youth Council of Ireland found that over 70% of people aged 18-24 are considering moving abroad for a better quality of life.
Almost half say they are struggling to make ends meet at the moment and eight in 10 say they are fearful for the future.
But for Kieran Cuddihy the figures are more than a little suspect:
“I have to say, I am a little bit suspicious about those figures,” he told The Hard Shoulder listeners.
“I think it is very easy to respond to a survey and say you’re considering emigration, I think it’s another thing entirely to actually emigrate.
“Now, I’m not suggesting that young people aren’t being screwed six ways from Sunday when it comes to accommodation… They are absolutely being screwed from on high.
“But the figures are just not born out by reality… If you look at the CSO stats, 60,000 people in the last 12 months left the country.
“120,000 arrived - double the amount arrived here compared to the numbers leaving here.
“Now if you just filter out all the non nationals within that and look at Irish people moving abroad and moving home; 27,000 Irish nationals left this country, 28,000 Irish nationals moved here.
“So we’ve more Irish people moving to Ireland than we have Irish people leaving Ireland.
“So this narrative that we are facing a great emigration, I’m not sure it’s born out in reality.
'This narrative that we are facing a great emigration, I'm not sure it's born out in reality.' @KieranCuddihy on the National Youth Council's survey that found 70% of young people are considering emigrating @TheHardShoulder pic.twitter.com/XC0435pYDE
— NewstalkFM (@NewstalkFM) September 12, 2022
“I absolutely accept the reality of the housing crisis and how it impacts young people disproportionately but the suggestion that they’re all going to flock and leave the country in their droves, I just don’t buy it.
“And I would suspect if you’d asked people at the height of the Celtic Tiger if they were consider emigrating about seven in 10 would have said the same.
“And at the peak of the recession about seven in 10 would have said the same.
“I reckon about seven in 10 young people at any given moment are thinking about leaving the country and heading abroad for a while.
“It’s the nature of being young, not the nature of the Irish economy.”
Main image: Newstalk presenter Kieran Cuddihy in the Newstalk studio. Image: Newstalk.
