Tuesday 21 May, 2013
WITH CHRISTMAS AND New Year over many people who came home for the festive season are heading back in the coming days.
Laura Hutton from Photocall Ireland captured some of the sad faces, tears and big hugs at Dublin Airport this morning as those who were home for the last few weeks said goodbye to their loved ones:
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Lucky enough to be working in Ireland only a few hours drive away from family, but lived in UK for most of my early twenties. The more I did it, the harder I found it to leave. Worst was my Mum & my then 5yr old niece coming to Knock airport with me. We were all in tears, my niece wouldn’t let go of my leg so she could try and stop me leaving. I cried all the way through check-in, in departure/shop area, then as I was boarding, I looked back at the building & they were waving at me from the upstairs bit. Absolutely broke my heart then, and am almost in tears now again recalling it!
My heart goes out to all parents who are saying the goodbyes & to all those family & friends who have/are boarding flights this week. It might only be an hour or several hours flight away, but that distance can feel a thousand times longer when you miss someone.
Baby Ita how very well said, it’s not really the distance that matters, though obviously it’s cheaper/easier to get home from say the UK, when you miss someone you love so much, and know its not a lifestyle choice, it’s really hard. Glad your home again with family, that’s really what matters in the long run, to be with those we love.
Luckily for me Tiernan, I’m not-I wouldn’t have been able to cope with a camera recording all that-I like being behind them, not in front! : )
Joan, hope the days get easier for you soon, and kudos to your son for achieving so much on his own-he’s definitely a son you can be proud of! xx
I worked in the airport for years and was struck by how happy the arrivals area normally is and how sad the departures could be.
Despite skype, twitter, e mail……the pain’s the same. Sad.
Ah sure, it’s only a lifestyle choice, according to Michael Noonan.
And with the help of the government and most of the media it doesn’t really matter anyway as Ireland’s exiting sons and daughters are being replaced with economic immigrants.
The question is: how long is Ireland going to put up with that?
Scary thing is, in many cases it IS a lifestyle choice. I know a number of highly qualified, highly paid people in their late twenties to mid forties who have left high paid jobs here to go work abroad. These are people who pay high income tax and also form part of the labour pool that attracts FDI. If this turns into an epidemic we’re in serious doodoo
Yes Scrap Croke Park.
It’s the same in our area.
Highly qualified, ambitious young individuals with 10′s of thousands of euros of education and experience leaving decent jobs,
because Ireland has become a Stoogeen, Gombeen, Lackey, State ran by a Stoogeen, Gombeen, Lackey government.
Well, certainly, you can’t make generalisations. For many in their 20s, it’s great to have an opportunity to see something of the world and other cultures – the problem is when you want to settle down and have a family, it would be nice to be able to do so in Ireland. And for me, the most heartbreaking stories are the divided families when one parent is forced to work elsewhere.
That was me on Tuesday saying goodbye to my son, it’s really heartbreaking. Still feeling very very sad.
Thanks Anne-Marie he’s only in UK and could be a lot worse, just miss him so much, but very proud of him all the same as he went alone, knew nobody at all, went to one job didn’t like and found himself another and moved city, but I know he’s lonely but won’t say to me, he’s a quiet type…unlike me!! Hopefully he might get something here at home, though not holding out for that, and as I’ve said before in the journal the hubby was in same position couple years back so it’s déjà vou. for me!
It can be equally as lonely hitting for the ferryport back to England aswell. I have found that it does get easier the more you do it…having said that, I’ve only lived in the UK so its not as hard for me as others. My mother was pretty upset saying goodbye to my sister heading off to Australia again at the weekend; the mothers and fathers of Ireland are having it hard. What particularly strikes me is that when going out at Christmas, it seems to be only very young people in the pubs and clubs (17-20 year olds). Many older adults have just left.
I’ve been in and out of this country for work since ’67, and both my sons head away in a few months, in different directions.
I hope those of you reading this will also remember that the incoming people also leave families, and face even less as regards established support than us Irish when we hit London Sydney or New York.
They too are only trying to make a living and a life in often hostile surroundings.
Don’t be the one that makes it any harder.
Thank you Damien. We left our families and friends to move here to make a better life for ourselves and our children. We pay taxes and work hard. It’s not easy to be looked down upon at times. Saying that, I do love this country and most have been very friendly and welcoming.
Is this the gathering the government were telling us all about?
Politicians should be brought up to the airport so they can see the reality of their failed policies and cut backs.
Absolute disgrace this is happening. Real heart breaker.
Still no sign of any Politician,Bankers,Senior Civil Servants or NAMA Gamblers kids being forced to leave?
Namely the kids of the culprits who caused this travesty?
IRELAND
EVERYONE GETS HELP EXEPT FOR THE VICTIMS!
EVERYONE GETS BAILED OUT EXEPT FOR THE VICTIMS!
THE CRIMINALS GET REWARDED!
I hear what you are saying Ciaran.
I’d prefer if these emigrants stood their ground and fought for their country like the people of Iceland.
This inept, spineless, bought out, puppet, “government” does not need arms to inflict pain,suffering,poverty,hunger
or to destroy
a country,
an economy,
or millions of people’s lives.
Some people choose to live abroad for various reasons. Not all these people are forced out of the country. However I do obviously sympathise with the families that feel they have no option but to leave. People have been making great lives for themselves abroad for years!
Yes Eileen.
But the majority want to stay.
If only our village idiot “leaders” and “representatives” would loose their inferiority complex and the chip on their shoulder
and help Ireland to realize it’s full potential for the benefit of native Irish people.
Amazing how one place can be the happiest most joyful place to be and within a week or 10 days become the valley of tears it is now. Easy to take a pop at the politicians but above that I hope these people can return to this country permenantly and soon.
It’s O.K. guys Enda and Eamonn have something organised for you, to soothe your despair.
Its called “The Grabbing”
Come home to get ripped off and to see your family, friends and neighbors suffer.
Fg and Labor want the Diaspora to witness, first hand, the great job that they are making of the country.
They want them to witness
the unemployment,
the emigration,
the evictions,
the repossessions,
the suicides,
the corruption,
the cronyism,
the culprits being rewarded and protected and their victims being punished,
the failed extortionate health system,
and half the population living below the poverty line.
Jesus you are some whinge bag! I live in Asia and couldn’t make it back this Xmas but when I see comments like yours I’m glad I didn’t! Always whinge, whinge, whinge, blame blame blame! Always someone else’s fault! You got a change of government and you still whinge! No matter who is in power, they will be disliked by 50% of the people and they will make tough decisions that will upset many people! If you don’t like the way the country is run, do something about it, take to the streets, run for office next time but for god sake, please shut up moaning and bitching!
I say firstly the root underlying cause of such a travesty/cancer/disease must be fully identified acknowledged before a cure/solution may be found.
And I will always strive to point that out instead of sweeping it under the carpet as our media do (at he behest of our ”leaders” and “protectors”)
A start to a solution would be to write of the ponzi debt dished out by reckless corrupt/criminal banks during the boom, similar to what Iceland have achieved.
The debts of criminals that was thrown on the shoulders of innocent people
Then reduce the size of our government and civil service, similar to what New Zealand have achieved (with a similar population and a lager land mass)
make the remaining people more accountable,
and make sure you only keep on the decent people who are truly in the job for the good of the country.
You could do more but these simple effective changes, and the knock on effect should do the trick.
Good solutions are always simple.
It is only unaccountable corrupt politicians (trying to justify their existence and wages) that try to make them sound complex and “difficult”
@Colm.
Since when was telling the cold, hard truth about a situation referred to as whinging?
I suggest that you want false, fluffy stories, rationalisations and lies read the mainstream media.
Just to note I have left Ireland (alone) and worked overseas in highly competitive environments on many occasions over the past 25-30 years and so have my parents and grand parents before me.
I am proud to say that I have excelled in these environments every time without fail.
And now I decide to stay in my own country by choice
(put my money where my mouth is, and such forth)
and it has worked out well for me, but only after identifying and acknowledging the corruption within this country’s Banana Republic politics and legal system.
Declan I get your point but most of the people I know that left had jobs here, some had careers. Adventure and excitement lay elsewhere. One even til me he is glad to be away from the likes of Gather nattering away. And Gather if your grandparents, then parents and then you left why are you on here ti criticise this generation. By the way I’m still here, comfortable enough but I’m getting tired of listen to those who claim to have the solution.
Iceland?
http://studiotendra.com/2012/12/29/what-is-actually-going-on-in-iceland/
Repeating myself I know but Gather would know all about that.
I worked outside of the country on different occasions in the 80′s 90′s and 00′s Ciaran.
A developed country’s leaders should have the capability to provide an environment in which their native population should have full employment.
(so as not to be exporting hundreds of thousand of their youth at the first sign of a little trouble)
Especially when we take into account the fact that our government is approving tens of thousands of applications for immigration into our country.
As regards forgiving debts Ciaran, the fact is that, to date, everyone except for the homeowners have got bailed out
the same homeowners who are paying for these bailouts.
Bailouts that pay for the corrupt/criminal acts of the corrupt and the criminal.
To cut a long story short.
The Culprits have got bailed out with lots of their victims money.
Don’t you think it is time to use (at least) a little of the victims money, to bail out the victims?
€10′s of billions have been dumped into dead, diseased, corrupt/criminal banks.
A few Billion will go along way into keeping some of our families, friends and neighbors alive and well and in their homes (to the benefit of us all).
All most of them want is a hand up, not a hand out Ciaran.
We are a small island in the Atlantic. We will always be affected by world recessions of this size and as the last forty years shows even smaller ones. How anyone taking out a forty year mortgage didn’t look back at the last forty years and count the recessions baffles me. As for looking after them I think enough is being done to reinflate the bubble to cover that. What we should be doing is tying mortgages to income so this doesn’t happen again but we’re not. 1. Because the state has a huge investment in property prices increasing and 2. Because a huge portion of the population has a huge investment in property prices increasing again. Home owners can’t have it both ways. Also the government announced full employment in 2006 or so. Even then 150,000 ‘native Irish’ couldn’t be arsed getting a job. This while 100s of thousands of E. Europeans were working in our economy. Don’t know about you but I’d take 150,000 hard working E. Europeans over that particular 150,000 Irish.
Yes Ciaran
40 year
100%
Interest Only
5-6-7-8-9-10+ times income
self certified
Mortgages.
Dished out by corrupt/criminal bankers who should be in Jail for their crimes.
Yes the property values here are still artificially overinflated and they must be allowed to drop to their true market value
and
the huge amount of mortgage holders who were conned by corrupt/criminal banks should be compensated immediately.
I don’t see the logic in a country continually spending a fortune educating its children to export for the benefit of other countries.
Yes the Eastern Europeans are generally “here to work” just as our emigrants are “over there to work” Ciaran.
However (from first hand experience) there are many Eastern Europeans getting well used to our generous social welfare system.
Personally I’d love to see statistics from the Irish Department of Social Welfare with native Irish social welfare payments compared side by side to foreign nationals social welfare payments.
Still think “it’s a lifestyle choice” Mr. Noonan?!?!
My father and mother left in the 50′s and never returned other than holidays. For me it’s still home and place I visit often. But try as I might I will always be a plastic paddy along with all the expats who I went to school with. So lets hope a majority of the leavers come HOME.
Lucky bastards. They better off in the long run. As well as the short run. RUN!!!!!!!!
The best thing for this country would be for these educated young people to get out of this dysfunctional country, find out how a proper country/business/health service/county council/etc is run and come back in 10 or 20 years. Of course, in 10 or 20 years they’ll never get a job here in a position of any influence, because those jobs will already have been snapped up by those with money, influence and connections, rather than those with any knowledge or talent.
Without a fundamental change in Irish society and the way we do business, from local and national politics to running a business to healthcare, education, justice, the way we deal with each other, the Catholic Church and so on, we’re stuck.
On the plus side, these people leaving will generally be well regarded and well rewarded. They’ll learn the value of hard work. They’ll do well. Good luck to them.
Sure did’nt we all leave in the 60s and the 80s aswell,dont remember to many photos been taken back then.At the other end of the airport the “new irish” (remember that term) are arriving.Coming here for the housing and all the free benefits the can get.What a country….
Desperately sad to see so many families having to go through the emotions of waving good bye to their sons,daughters,husbands,brothers,sisters.Seems like yesterday media was showing us pictures of happy families reunited….yup definitely never read this in Enda Kenny five point plan and on December 31st he tells Europe that Ireland goin to focus all its efforts solving youth unemployment during its presidency…what his plan get other countries to force the young to emigrate just to manipulate unemployment figures…hypocrites the lot of them. sure their families dont have the same worries regarding emigration as they put their siblings on their payroll and the families in airports across ireland crying tears of loss are paying their wages
I would love to leave this shit hole and never look back,but i have criminal convictions so i cant travel to a place like canada.I hate this country with a passion cause of what our so called leaders have done to it.
Sorry but this article and comments are just over the top.
People say goodbye at airports and hug and cry every day.
Not al those who were there today were forced to emigrate.
Some have foreign partners or jobs abroad etc. to get experience etc.
I have foreign colleagues who live in Ireland and went home for Christmas (still happens) and they had sad goodbyes in their airports too,
I left yesterday and didn’t see any of this but I’m sure there was some drama.
The thing that really got people down was the fact that only 4 security points were open in T1 and the queue was something you’d see 5 years ago. Would like to know how that compared to the privileged Terminal 2.
am i the only one who thinks taking pictures of upset families at the airport is wrong? did you ask their permission? Same as funerals!!! Saw nothing but pic after pic of Paidi O Se’s funeral. honestly if i saw a camerman at my fathers funeral, him or her would get a slap. talk about invasive
Why mention only Dublin airport? The same is going on in Cork and Shannon as well. The media and political elite need to learn there is life outside of Dublin. I bet they would if they collected no tax outside of Dublin or sold no newspapers outside of Dublin.
A lot of these people left years ago. Well before the country collapsed into the state it’s in now. So how dare they come back for Christmas and talk about how they were forced to leave. I know many who left for the US and Australia and gave up very good jobs here in 2004, 2005 and 2006.
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