‘There is an outbreak of babies in the Irish community in Asia’

With the economy at home in Ireland improving, Asia is emerging a destination where Irish people are choosing to go to, said the players convened in Shanghai for the annual Fexco Asian Gaelic Games over the weekend.

At the games, Irish people from all over the continent gathered for the 9-a-side tournament in China’s financial capital, with matches lasting 14 minutes each.

The approach to the games is competitive, but the social aspect is also hugely important, and the tenor of people’s conversation on the sidelines of the sporting event has definitely changed over the years.

What was noticeable this year was the increasing sense that players are settling down in the continent and making their home here.

Now in its 21st edition, the tournament has been running since 1996 and moves from city to city each year; it has been hosted in Manila, Singapore, Phuket, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Penang, Bangkok, Seoul and Kuala Lumpur.

Players brought their local spouses and children born in the region. All seem to be enjoying Asia for the opportunities it provides. Many of those who emigrated here in recent years purely because of straitened circumstances back in Ireland have returned home, now that the Irish economy is picking up and jobs are available.

Ian Lahiffe has been in China for seven years and works for the US animal feed company Alltech, having initially worked for the EU delegation in Beijing. He studied Chinese in Xi'an.

“I came to China because I wanted to. It’s a great opportunity and at the time things were slowing down at home, the financial crisis was having its effect, so there was a certain element of that, but the decision to stay on longer is mostly because of the opportunity and the great lifestyle,” he said.

Behind him, a group were playing an exhibition match of hurling in 26-degree heat. It’s not often that hurling is played in these conditions in Ireland, certainly not in November.

“Dublin and the cities seem to be doing well, the energy is back but rural Ireland seems to be struggling.”

Through working for Alltech, Lahiffe gets home five or six times a year, so homesickness is not much of an issue.

"I miss certain aspects - music, concerts and Shan misses Brown Thomas," he said, pointing to his wife Shan Lu, a Beijing native who studied at Kylemore Abbey and Trinity College Dublin, and now works at KPMG. The couple were married this summer.

“I spent 14 years in Ireland. Ian brought be back here. I feel at home in Dublin, I have good friends there, Ireland is very special. If you try hard, then you can fit in,” she said.

“There are so many more opportunities out here. The opportunities are so much bigger in China. There are so many Chinese companies planning to invest in Ireland, and we do our best to bring them over so that they don’t choose any other countries.”

Brian Elders from Templeogue has spent four years in Singapore and one year in Hong Kong, and is sales director at Amicorp, having lived in eight countries to date.

“I love going back home, but I know that I left Ireland, Ireland didn’t leave me so that’s why I do things like get involved in the Chamber of Commerce and come out to events like the Asian Games,” he said.

“I have a little boy now who is five weeks old. There is an outbreak of babies in the Irish community in Hong Kong right now.”

The winners of the Derek Brady Cup in the men's tournament were the Shanghai As, while the senior plate went to Shenzhen. The Lisa Orsi Cup, in memory of the 22-year-old physiotherapist from Co Derry who died from altitude sickness in Singapore in 2015, went to Singapore A in the womens' tournament, and the senior plate went to the Singapore B team.

At the end of the event, rumours swirled about where next year's competition will go; Bangkok looks in line to get the nod for the 2017 Games.

Particularly noticable at this year's tournament was how much more seriously GAA is taken abroad now -- the days of people rolling in straight from the pub are very much over. The event seemed smaller this year, but many people find China a pricey destination, so moving it to Bangkok will be a popular choice.