A woman who has seen half of her friends from secondary school move to Australia has said people are going there to take a break from the 'rat race' in Ireland.
Figures show some 21,000 working holiday visas were issued for Irish people between July 2022 and 2023.
It comes amid ongoing debate that young people are being driven aboard because of the high cost of living and the housing crisis.
Freelance Journalist Édaein O'Connell told Moncrieff one beachside suburb of Sydney is particularly popular with the Irish.
"It's known as County Coogee, and it was the first place I encountered when I got there," she said.
"It was actually overwhelming - it was the first place I went to, I wanted to see Home and Away.
"It was just all Irish and I was like, 'Have I left Listowel?', it was unreal.
"You can see we've the GAA jerseys on, it's just covered in [Irish] people, particularly Sydney.
"Sydney seems to be, anyone who is moving over, that's kind of their first port of call."
'Slightly different now'
Édaein said she believes people are travelling there for more than economic reasons.
"Long-gone are the days where people go to Australia to make their fortune, that was kind of always what it was," she said.
"The last time you would have had mass emigration like this would have been around the time of the crash, it was necessity.
"It's slightly different now... [for] a lot of people it's kind of taking a break from life at home, that's what I picked up."
Édaein said she believes not everyone over there will stay.
"People are going there now for a few years to see what it's like, but I think they're kind of coming back," she said.
"You'll always get people who are going to stay, but I think the narrative at the minute that everyone is going and they're never going to come back that's not necessarily true from what I've picked up".
'Taking your hands off the reins'
Édaein said pressure can get to younger people after college.
"When you're 23/24 you're already thinking about rents... you're thinking so far ahead," she said.
"I think there's this pressure that maybe isn't talked about enough amongst young people.
"I think they're going to Australia to kind of break away from this and not having to think about it.
"As a friends put it, it's like a J1 for people who don't want to grow up.
"He said it was nice to get out of Ireland, get out of that rat race mentality - being able to go to Sydney and just take your hands off the reins a little bit," she added.
Édaein joked that Coogee "is going to turn into an island" if the numbers keep rising.
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