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Generation Emigration

Generation Emigration

The Irish Times forum by and for Irish citizens abroad

Monthly Archives: December 2011

Photo-0001 thumb Irish students at Harvard

As the government looks likely to introduce fees in Irish universities, Steven Lydon, an Irish PhD student in German Philosophy at Harvard sought out fellow Irish students at the university to find out their reasons for emigrating, how they have adapted, and what they think of developments back home.

Claire Duignan Melbourne thumb Emigrants’ celebrations: “It wasn’t Christmas because it wasn’t Ireland”

For Irish people living abroad, Christmas isn’t the typical turkey-and-ham affair – but, as a number of emigrants tell CIARA KENNY, they found ways to make it feel like home.

Dublin Airport Christmas thumb News of the week
  • News
  • December 28, 2011, 14:34

Struggling emigrants in London, Christmases at home and abroad, and students worry for the future: this week’s round up of emigration stories from irishtimes.com.

family_christmas_tree thumb Have your say: what was your impression of Ireland when home for Christmas?

In this week’s Have Your Say, we want to hear what your impressions of Ireland were this Christmas.

bondi-beach-australia-christmas thumb Happy Christmas!
  • News
  • December 25, 2011, 01:00

Happy Christmas everyone, at home and abroad, from Generation Emigration. Send your festive photos showing how you spent the day to emigration@irishtimes.com.

Liz Ryan Normandy thumb Calvados, scallops and a turkey fresh from the farm

Preparing for the Christmas feast in Normandy is a little different to shopping in Tesco, writes Liz Ryan, in an extract from her book French Leave.

Sand snowman thumb Happy Christmas, Ireland. Season’s greetings from emigrants

Generation Emigration invited Irish emigrants who won’t be coming home this Christmas to send a message through our blog. Here’s a selection, which were printed in the Life & Culture section of The Irish Times today.

Welcome home thumb Welcome home

Irish Times journalists visited Dublin airport to speak to groups of families and friends as they welcome their loved ones home for Christmas.

statue_of_liberty_USA_thumb Destination in Focus: New York

Practical advice on visas, finding a job and a place to live in New York, with useful links to Irish organisations, social and business networks and emergency assistance, prepared in collaboration with the Emerald Isle Immigration Center.

Engagement thumb Australia is home for now, but I want my kids to grow up in Ireland

Ciaran Turbitt will begin his married life in Australia where there is sunshine and plenty of work, but when the time comes to raise kids, he would rather be back in Ireland.

Michael D Christmas Christmas message from President Michael D. Higgins
  • News
  • December 21, 2011, 16:17

President Michael D.Higgins extends his Christmas wishes to “everyone here in Ireland, and to our extended global family across the world”.

Fairytale News of the week
  • News
  • December 21, 2011, 11:08

Fairytale of New York, returning home for Christmas, a party for the departing and what it means to be Irish: this week’s round up of emigration stories from irishtimes.com.

Lynn Christmas Perth thumb Christmas away from home

Having spent much of her young adult life overseas, Lynn McDonnell has found herself in Nepal, Korea and Australia for four of the past five Christmases.

turkey thumb Have your say: How will you be spending Christmas Day?

Will you be having a traditional roast turkey dinner with all the trimmings in your Aunty Mary’s, or a barbecue on Bondi Beach? Wheter abroad or back in Ireland, we want to know how you will be spending Christmas Day.

Christmas around the world small Happy Christmas Ireland! Send a greeting home

Send a Christmas greeting home to Ireland in the form of a note, video or photo – the best will be published in The Irish Times on Friday.

Wake thumb A party for the departing: photos from an American Wake

Slideshow of photos taken by Eamon Ward at an “American Wake” held recently for young emigrants leaving Co Clare.

SKeane_Belgium thumb I’m happy to be part of generation emigration

It’s a shame that the discourse surrounding youth emigration is so negative, writes Sarah Keane in Brussels.

Sue Kelleher Moose thumb “I’d love to go back to Ireland, but can’t see it happening”

Sue Kelleher went to Canada on a one-year working holiday visa in 2005. Six years later, she is still in Toronto, with a good job and a solid network of friends, she tells Ciara Kenny.

australia_shamrock_mens_thumb Is Australia tainted by the Irish?

The Irish baby boomers in Australia like to make merry because they have something to celebrate, having left a country that promised them everything but left them with nothing. But do they deserve their loutish reputation, asks Shaunagh Connaire.

Toronto Destination in Focus: Toronto

Practical advice on finding a job and a place to live Toronto, with useful links to Irish organisations, social and business networks and emergency assistance, prepared in collaboration with IrishAlien.com.

Immigration US thumb News of the week
  • News
  • December 14, 2011, 09:08

Catch up with all the stories relating to emigration or the Irish abroad in the past week on irishtimes.com in our weekly news round-up.

Santa thumb Have your say: What’s the first thing you’ll do when home for Christmas?

With Christmas just 12 days away, many Irish emigrants around the world are preparing to make the journey back to Ireland for the festive season. In this week’s Have Your Say, we want to know: What’s the first thing you’ll do when you arrive home for Christmas?

Alfred Markey thumb The Mind of Winter

Hard as it may be for the home-bird to imagine, life in the Spanish sun often finds it difficult to compete with thoughts of drizzly Irish November evenings and a homely soundtrack of the Angelus, writes Alfred Markey from León.

Darren Kidney thumb “Honestly, I feel more European than Irish”

With English, German, Portuguese and Spanish, we can converse with almost 16% of the world’s population in their mother tongue, writes Darren Kidney.

Live Trad thumb Broadcasting live Irish music to the world
  • News
  • December 9, 2011, 18:22

LiveTrad.com will be streaming a concert with Dervish on their website tonight from 10pm Irish time. The gig was recorded a few weeks ago in Dublin at the launch of The Leitrim Equation2, a collaborative CD with many of Leitrim’s finest traditional and folk musicians.

Noel Scanlon thumb All I knew about Afghanistan was years of war

This time last year, Noel Scanlon couldn’t afford to bring his sons to see Santa. Since taking a job in Afghanistan, his mortgage is up to date and his family can afford a holiday for the first time since 2008.

Vancouver harbour thumb Destination in Focus: Vancouver

Practical advice on Canadian visas, finding a job and a place to live Vancouver, with useful links to Irish organisations, social and business networks and emergency assistance, prepared in collaboration with the Vancouver Irish Newcomers’ Society.

Sean Rogers Boston thumb Arriving back to Ireland as a visitor

Arriving at 4:30am this morning into Dublin from Boston and waiting for the first bus to Dundalk, Passport Control reminds me I’m now a visitor to Ireland, writes Seán Rogers.

Michael Noonan thumb News of the week
  • News
  • December 7, 2011, 09:16

Catch up with all the stories relating to emigration or the Irish abroad in the past week on irishtimes.com in our weekly news round-up.

Anna Byrne thumb “I couldn’t put my finger on why I was going”

Anna Byrne battled the floods six weeks ago to move to Berlin in search of something different.

Question mark Have your say: How did you choose your destination?

In this week’s discussion forum, we want to know: how and why did you choose that particular country or city? Why Canada over the US, or Perth over Sydney?

Ruth Barrett thumb It was heartening to realise how many people were facing the same thing

When Ruth Barrett was pregnant with her third child, her husband Jer moved to Saudi Arabia in search of work. After the baby was born, Ruth and the children joined him, and they now live a very happy life. They are together, which is the most important thing, she writes.

Ceire with president thumb Inflated acts of generosity: making a song and dance of our kindness

Ceire Sadlier writes from Zambia about the very Irish way of being kind.

Melbourne-based Irish band pen song for European Championships

24 years (We’re Going To Win The Euros), a song written by an Irish band living in Melbourne about Ireland’s qualification for the European Championships, has attracted almost 17,000 hits on YouTube.

Ara and Darragh thumb Leaving all the old, familiar places

Saddened by the return of emigration as a normality for Irish people, photographer David Monahan began his ‘Leaving Dublin’ project, capturing soon-to-be emigrants at locations around the city. By CIARA KENNY

British flag Destination in Focus: London

Practical advice on finding a job and a place to live London, with useful links to Irish organisations, social and business networks and emergency assistance, prepared in collaboration with the London Irish Centre.