Minister calls for nation debate on Irish abroad

Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern has called for a national debate "on this country's attitude to our overseas communities".

Speaking at a conference in Dublin yesterday on Ireland's Attitude to the Diaspora, he said that "policy in this area should not be the preserve of any group or faction but rather should be national in the true meaning of that word". He saw the conference as opening that debate.

Organised by the Department of Foreign Affairs, it was chaired by Senator Maurice Hayes. Speakers included US Congressman Richard Neal. Also speaking was Paddy O'Hanlon, former chairman of the Government Task Force on Emigration Policy; Nickey Brennan, president of the GAA; Prof Terri Scott, a member of the IDA board and chief executive of the Ryan Academy of Entrepreneurship; Dr Ian Adamson, former lord mayor of Belfast and author Tim Pat Coogan.

In his address Mr Ahern said "our diaspora have always been, and continues to be, a part of who we are". He noted that over a million people born on the island of Ireland were estimated to live abroad.

"This is an extraordinary figure for a population of some six million. As a testament to the significant legacy of our tradition of migration, an estimated 70 million people worldwide claim Irish descent," he said.