AS every Irish person must know by now, our economy is on the up and up. The evidence of this Shamrock Boom is all around us, from the frantic activity on building sites to the hum of 1997 cars along sleek new motorways. But one of its most interesting manifestations is the increasing number of people from other countries who are deciding to live and settle in Ireland.
There have been periods in the past when the annual flow of emigration from this country has dwindled, and even - for a brief period in the 1970s - reversed itself. But this is the first time in the history of the State that there has been significant in migration. According to Central Statistics Office census figures, in the 12 months to April 1996, 5,700 more people came to live in Ireland than emigrated, compared with a net loss through emigration of 26,000 in 1991.
Today there are about 40 000 legal "alien" residents in the country, most of whom have annually renewable visas. That does not account for those immigrants who have obtained Irish citizenship, and of course the many thousands of European Union citizens who do not need a visa to live and work in Ireland.
The evidence that migration is no longer just a one way ticket is most obvious in Dublin, where Japanese, Malaysians, Afro Caribbeans and Europeans of various nationalities mingle among the Irish in crowded bars and cafes. But it is by no means an exclusively urban phenomenon. Figures show that places such as Ballyseedy in Co Kerry, Wormhole in Galway and Nobber in Meath places which have endured a steady drain of people for decades are also experiencing net in-migration. And while some of those accounting for the increase are returning Irish emigrants drawn back by a healthier economy, a significant proportion are people who have no Irish origins.
Leitrim singer Charlie McGettigan says: "We did a count recently of the non Irish families that live in the area of Drumshambo, and we came up with 100 personally known to us. That's out of a total population of about 600. Children with names like Heinrich are now beginning to turn up on the football teams. It's new, and in Leitrim which has been depopulating for years, any new blood and new life, particularly young families, is very welcome.
"Inquiries from foreigners about property in the area are definitely on the increase in recent years," agrees Mervyn Lloyd, a Leitrim auctioneer. "We're selling houses to people of all nationalities, though the majority would be Germans and Dutch, and to all classes and types of people. There's the alternative types who buy a broken down old place halfway up a mountain without electricity or water. They're going back to basics, to subsistence living. You also get the in between types who have a job but are also thrifty; they'll buy a bit of land with the property, farm it, grow vegetables, keep sheep.
"Then there are the upmarket types. There are two German biochemists, for example, who live here in south Leitrim for six months of the year in a magnificent, Germanic style lakeside home, with its specially imported kitchen, its solar energy power, its boat on the lake. So I would say that all classes and social groups from a wide variety of countries are deciding to relocate to Ireland."
Michael Cropp is one such immigrant, drawn to rural Cavan from Germany in 1986. "I first came here when I was 18 and came back for holidays regularly afterwards, always having it in my mind that I would buy a place in Ireland. Then in 1986, we finally did it. The west was too expensive for us but as soon as we saw Cavan, we loved it - the drumlins, the lakes, the expanse of peace." Variety has been the spice of Irish life for Michael Cropp and his wife Silke, whose occupations since coming here have included graphic design, music management, goat farming, cheesemaking and now organic sheep and cattle farming.
Incomers like the Cropps, attracted to Ireland's depopulated countryside and relatively laid back lifestyle, are not a new phenomenon. There has been a steady trickle of such immigrants for years, though they are coming now in greater numbers. What is completely unprecedented, however, is the sizeable influx of young, mobile professionals to Dublin, Cork, Limerick and Galway to work in the burgeoning "new" industries - electronics, computers, health and medical, pharmaceutical and chemical industries - which have been attracted to Ireland by EU and IDA funding.
The personnel profile of Microsoft World wide Product Group Ireland (WPGI) is typical of such companies, with employees from Brazil, Mexico, Russia and the US as well Spain, Portugal, France, Germany, Italy and almost all the other European nationalities. Remy Pairault and Larisa Fernandez both arrived in Ireland to work for Microsoft WPGI three years ago, Remy from Paris, Larisa from Mexico City. They met within a few days in their new jobs, and are now engaged and have bought a house in Dublin.
"Three years ago I didn't even know where Ireland was," says Ms Fernandez. "Now when I return to Dublin from Mexico after holidays, it feels like coming home It is a young country but still very cool and relaxed and I feel a spiritual affinity with the people, perhaps because I come from a Catholic country. I can't imagine that I'll ever want to live anywhere else. I even love the weather now that I've got over the shock of realising that you can have four seasons in one day here."
Her fiance is not as enthralled, particularly with Irish weather but happy enough to settle here. "I like the way I can go into a pub and have a chat with someone I've never met before in a way I could never do in France," he says. "It feels much safer here in the pubs and clubs, less aggressive and more laid back. And I like the countryside, which still seems removed from the modern world."
There are currently more than 900 foreign firms in Ireland, almost 400 of which are American, for in the US Ireland is now seen as a gateway to the 375 million European Union citizens who make up the most affluent market in the world. Most work permits issued in Ireland are issued to workers from the US (777), followed by those from Pakistan (358), India (235), Japan (211) Malaysia (179), Australia (173), Switzerland (109) and Canada (122). The total number of work permits issued in 1996 was 3,781 but there are also thousands of Europeans living and working here, people who because of the free movement of labour within the EU do not need a permit to work in Ireland.
At the opposite end of the chronological and social scale to the young, mobile professionals are pensioners. There has been an inflow of over 65s into Ireland for decades. According to research compiled for the National Council on Ageing and Older People, between 1,000 and 1,500 people aged 65 or over settle here each year. Between 1987 and 1994 a time which saw an overall loss of 145,000 through emigration, there was a net gain to the Republic through in migration of 10,200 persons aged 65 years and over.
Most of these elderly immigrants come from Britain (there are currently 75,000 pensions paid annually from Britain, to recipients living in the Irish Republic, though not all came to live in Ireland at pension age) and two thirds of these are returned emigrants. The other third are non nationals who have decided that Ireland is the country where they want to spend the last days of their lives. The areas which are most popular among such older immigrants are the Dublin/ Wicklow area, Co Cork and the western seaboard (Kerry, Mayo and especially Donegal).
According to Tom McGurk of Age Action Ireland, there has been a lot of misinterpretation of the reasons why older people come to Ireland to live. "Press coverage has represented Ireland as a paradise for older people," he says. "It is true that there are some attractive secondary benefits for the over 65s in Ireland, like free travel, TV licence and telephone rental. But medical care here is strictly means tested, our social housing for older people is poor and in many ways Ireland is not a great place to be old, particularly if you're not in full health or have a low income. I certainly wouldn't like to come to live in Ireland and end up in one of our health board nursing homes, for example."
PAT Morgan, a British ex pat who lived in former Rhodesia and South Africa for most of his working life before retiring to Rosslare in Co Wexford three years ago, would disagree. "I reckon Ireland is the best country in the world for an older person to live," he says. "The social welfare treatment of the over 65 is incomparable. The free travel is a particular boon but there are all sorts of other benefits. I know lots of older people who have moved here from Britain because they get a better deal here, as well as a better quality of life."
It was the "peace and quiet" which was the main attraction for Mr Morgan and his wife Nora, a feeling of safety and security that was absent from their lives in South Africa. "Our son used to say our house was like Fort Knox, with electronic gates and security systems. As we got older we found our lives were closing in." He is convinced that they have found themselves in the right place at the right time, and says he is the envy of other South African friends who would like to live in Ireland but can't get citizenship.
"There's a perception out there at the moment that Ireland is the place top be," he says. "We have a niece, an electronic engineer, who is moving here with her Scottish husband for that reason. Economically, you could hardly find a better country to be in right now and even though we have retired, it's great to be part of a country where there is such a sense of hope and optimism."
