Should I stay or should I go?

The wave of youth emigration which has swept across our little island in the past few years hasn’t exactly dwindled. Instead, it has had a change of face. Currently the fastest growing European economy, having just come out of arguably the worst recession it has ever seen, Ireland has miraculously managed to reproduce that glimmer of hope which can once again be found in the eyes of young students and graduates across the country.

As a 21-year-old final year student at UCD, I am part of a generation where international experience and travel are first on the agenda. We find ourselves pondering potential career paths in a recently improving Irish economy newly abundant with opportunities for young graduates. Is this really enough to keep us at home though?

Having spent last year living and studying in France, I got to experience what Europe has to offer from a cultural perspective. Accompanied by two summers in the US on a J1 visa, I developed a profound appreciation for our country’s long history of emigration. Some say cliché, I say fact; our people are most certainly our finest export. Our remarkable ability to adapt to any social setting, completed by our exceptional work ethic which is second to none, is received with open arms wherever we find ourselves. Granted, Irish sarcasm rarely translates, but it’s something we look forward to every time we come home.

Unsurprising therefore how unlike previous generations, the challenge today for young graduates is not to build up the courage to emigrate, leaving behind our friends and family, but to try and resist the beckoning temptation of a few years ‘out foreign’ and everything we might be missing out on. Times change, and so to do priorities. Money comes and goes (as we all know too well). What is a true testament to this generation’s character is its admirable acknowledgement of the above. Personal development and more worldly experiences mean more to us than money. We work so we can travel.

My uncle once said to me that the value of one’s investment may fall as well as plummet. Sure, I took everything he said with a pinch of salt, but this proved to be pretty spot on. An exception to this? Of course. For a generation of young graduates that is constantly on the move, any experience thus gained, as far as we’re concerned, is an investment which is guaranteed to have positive returns that will last a lifetime.

The bottom line? 2016 is looking like a promising year for economic growth and investment in Ireland. The perfect time to be coming out of college with a degree and entering the workforce, you say – and you’re dead right too! The opportunity cost however, is a wealth of international experience which cannot be bought.