Visit Ireland, Help Their Celtic Tiger Economy
Or Apply for Dual Citizenship and Become A Global Citizen As Well
Mar 30, 2009 Laura Harrison McBride
Many of Ireland's young workers have known nothing but boom times. Now, they are having to face economic distress as severe as any in the western world, and probably more severe than anything faced by the population since the Easter Rising of 1916.
Education to Surmount Economic Hard Times
Ireland intends to surmount its difficulties the only way it has ever done, through education. In medieval times, it Ireland was the center of learning, as Thomas Cahill pointed out in his best-selling book, How the Irish Saved Civilization. Throughout the British occupation—even during the potato famine of the 1840s, an event that caused many Irish to emigrate to the U.S.—the Irish loved learning. At the time, the British forbade the rural Irish—particularly rural Irish Catholics—to have schools. As a result, the Irish ran “hedge schools,” in which children literally met with a learned person in the lee of a hedgerow.
Ireland lost a great deal of its population during the potato famine, partly by starvation, and partly by emigration. By the time the Republic had achieved total separation from England in 1937, Eamonn de Valera, its first leader, and other members of the Dail (pronounced Doyle, and meaning Irish Parliament) decided to literally pay families to have babies. The fact that birth control methods were illegal in Ireland until 1971 enhanced the baby boom. Now, of course, there are many young families with children out of jobs, a downside of that continuing baby boom. No one expects a second famine, because the Irish now have abundant fresh food through their own efforts and imports from warmer EU nations, which they didn’t have during the famine of the 1840s. Still it would not be surprising to see famous inexpensive Irish foods gain prominence once again.
Expanding Citizenship Possibilities
The current Taoiseach (Prime Minister) is thinking of expanding the possibilities for more Americans to be Irish citizens (Emigrant Advice Network). Currently, children and grandchildren of Irish citizens can apply for Irish citizenship. It’s difficult to see why, when the nation is having financial problems, Ireland would want to open the door to more citizens who might well move to Ireland as they legally could, and put further stress on the social services. On the other hand, after Ireland’s full membership in the European Union, it attracted—partly because of its booming economy and excellent education—a great number of poor and uneducated immigrants from Eastern Europe; perhaps attracting better-off Americans who are better educated than former Eastern bloc residents is part of their thinking. In addition, the Taoiseach has suggested opening greater possibilities for well-educated young Irish to work in the U.S. than has been the case in the recent past.
Visit Ireland and See For Yourself
In any case, there has never been a better time for Americans of Irish descent to visit Ireland and test the waters, to see if applying for Irish citizenship seems a good idea. U.S. citizens are permitted to hold dual citizenship with Ireland. You could pique your interest by watching some great movies about Ireland. Or, at this point, you might consider a trip to Ireland. Visiting Ireland would help their economy, and because of the economic situation, it’s less expensive for North Americans than it has been for many years. The weather gets extremely nice in May, and the travel costs, including fares on Aer Lingus, are still lower than the mid-summer high season rates
Bloody Foreland, Donegal
|
Bloody Foreland, Sunset, Donegal
|
What do you think about this article?
More in Travel
Latest Articles