Despite rising cost-of-living prices and a rental crisis, some young people are not willing to give up on Ireland yet.

In 2022, there was a 10% increase in the number of Irish people emigrating abroad – a total of 59,600 residents.

Young people have long been the frontrunners for emigration, with many on the hunt for higher wages, better living conditions and lower cost of living.

However, speaking to Lunchtime Live, two young people said they were not yet ready to leave Ireland for greener pastures.

Rachel O'Neill told the show that Dublin is her "favourite city, ever."

"It sounds really weird because obviously there are so many problems with it," she said.

"It is somewhere that I really, really love and I couldn't really imagine leaving Ireland."

Abroad

During her semester abroad in Germany, Ms O'Neill said she found she was "homesick" for Irish people.

"Everyone in this country just has a very, very good sense of humour and a wily sense of humour," she said.

"We don't take things too seriously, but, we also are very good at getting work done."

Ms O'Neill said Irish people are very good at coming together as a nation – both to mourn and to celebrate.

"The way people have gotten behind the women's team in football, the way we get behind nearly anything, pretty much," she said.

"I rarely encountered that when I was in Germany – it was a great country, the people are lovely – but I just missed something about the sense of our silliness."

'Slightly depressing'

Cathal O’Sullivan said he finds himself attending his friend's going away parties very often.

"In a way, it's slightly depressing because I'm losing my friends," he said.

"I'm not the one going with them because a lot of me wants to stay here and make a life for myself in Ireland because I do love it so much here."

Mr O'Sullivan said the "craic, the camaraderie and the people" is something he holds dear about living in Ireland.

"If [Government] want to keep the likes of me and the likes of Rachel, or even extend that to the people who are moving abroad, there is a little bit more that has to be done to put that fire under people to stay in Ireland ... because it is a great country," he said.

"We just need to open people's eyes more and put more investment into the country."

Rural community

Kevin from GAA-Works.ie said his company works to encourage people to source employment locally, in order to remain in rural communities.

"We feel that there are so many opportunities out there that are being overlooked," he said.

"There are so many great career opportunities out there and if somebody has an option to create a successful career for themselves within their local communities – where they're surrounded by their support network – then we see nothing but good in that.

A new housing plot or site in rural Ireland, County Donegal (Piere Bonbon / Alamy Stock Photo)

Ms O'Neill said many of her friends are in similar positions to her and do not think the faraway hills could be any greener than Ireland.

"We never really wanted to leave to go anywhere else because Ireland is our home," she said.

"It's where our families are. It's where our friends are. It's where our life is.

"I'm really lucky to be surrounded by people who want to stay and have settled down around the city and around the country, which is lovely."

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