Sir, – Cora Murphy Palombella’s tale of an Irish immigrant in Italy (January 5th) was uplifting and I would like to echo it.
My own emigration to Germany in 1970 led to a mixture of joy and sadness; sadness to be away from the native soil, but joy in my family here and in the friends who welcomed the Irishman in their midst. Ireland is still held in high regard in Germany and I have never been forced to lose my original identity. This is a good and welcoming place, considerably more so today than 40 years ago.
Understandably, it’s difficult to integrate without speaking the language, but that can be managed.
Let me encourage young people to try living abroad, if their particular circumstances make it the better option. Either they will become attached to the country of adoption, or they can return to Ireland later. In times of cheap flights and good electronic communications, circumstances are so much better today than for emigrants than in the past.
The era of the American wake is past and emigration is no longer a desperate solution. – Yours, etc,