Ireland's towns and villages being hollowed out as young people see better prospects elsewhere
Our story today focusing on one young Derry woman’s experience of moving half way around the world to find secure, well paid employment will be an all too familiar one to the many Derry, Donegal and Tyrone people living and working abroad and their relatives here at home.
There’s hardly a family left in the region who hasn’t had at least one sibling, son, daughter or cousin move abroad because the opportunities just to build a decent life just don’t exist here. And all too often the wages of the jobs that do exist barely stretch to meet living expenses.
There are whole towns and villages across this island – particularly in the north west and west – which are being hollowed because of this.
The cost of living here compared to wage levels makes it near impossible for most young people to be able to save enough to live a comfortable life in a home of their own in their own country.
At some point the penny will have to drop that the brain drain is damaging not just the economy, but also communities across the island, with many disproportionately populated today with people over 50 and under 18. The generations in between are as likely to have moved to another continent as they are to a big city on these islands.
The psychological impact this has on those emigrating and their families back home is often rarely mentioned.
The absence of loved ones can be devastating. It is felt keenly on both sides, and felt every day they are away.
The truth is, the often promised better tomorrow for successive generations has never materialised.
It is for those in power who could have made a difference to answer Caithilín Hughes’ question: ‘What does it say about life in Ireland that an industry on the other side of the world... is offering us more security than home?’
Brendan McDaid, Editor,
Derry Journal.