Let me tell Noonan, that my brother and three friends have left for work, not to see another part of the world to to actually feel useful and have a job.

That would be news to the young people I know who have emigrated because they can not get work in Ireland. Noonan once again demonstrating the governments and his total disconnect from reality in todays Ireland.

What an idiotic thing to say

No, its because of unemployment.

Maybe in 2006 but not 2012. This man does not live in the real world.

he makes my blood boil, of the several people i know that have left for canada or oz etc they all went because there is no work here

I doubt a man on Noonan’s salery can compare the lifestyle of his children with that of the average young irish emigrant.

Ah Michael…you know that isn’t true! He represents my constituency and the amount of people in my area that has emigrated in the last year is astonishing. I myself am an emigrant, happily living in London, but building up my work experience to come home. Not sure if others in my position will get that opportunity. Please wake up.

If by “free choice of lifestyle” he means they need to emigrate to have one!

nice that his 3 children get to decide to move away – for me it wasn’t a choice – if I want to work I have to move -simple. what planet is he on?

Oh really Minister Noonan, i don’t believe you.

What bloody planet is Noonan living on?
What an absolute fool!

Nob

Now the circle is complete. They live in the same delusion as the last fail government. Cocooned in their privileged worlds of pay and pensions while the rest of us in the real economy choke a slow death.

hmm – well no one ever said they were being evicted or anything??

it is their free choice to choose themselves to emigrate so that they can indeed have a better lifestyle and get off this island………. because there aren’t jobs here for them!!!!

Iv never had the desire to travel or see the world, but cause of circumstances I’m left with no option, I was self employed and can’t even get the dole, and haven’t got a job in nearly 10 months. So I’m packing up and shipping out with what little iv left. Let’s see what his going to do when there is no one left in the country to do work.

Noonan, denial personified!

is he for real ??? what planet is he on !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
of course unemployment is driving people away ……

goes to show how out of touch with reality this government is , MR NOONAN my son and five of his mates headed to australia because they couldn’t get work here , come back to planet earth and get a grip..

Pity you would get off the island Noonan. Cretin.

reminds me of Brian Lenihan’s comments in the 80′s ‘sure we all can’t live here..’

why is it as soon as politicians get elected they lose touch with reality. What a twat.

Roll on the next election, get a new bunch of morons in.

Not only is this statement wrong, but how did he think that the people of Ireland would react to such a statement.
Is he really that stupid?

Out of touch. Not in tune with his country. An insult to Irish families. Cheek of him! Fuming.

If there is one thing us irish are good at its telling stories and you mr. noonan should win a prize for the best piece if government fiction I have ever had the misfortune to read. Bullshit of the highest order. Please journal can you do a poll on why people emigrate so we can post the results on time noony.

Noonan, I know your staff are reading these comments. I hope one of them turns around and informs you that you are now Chief Jackass of Ireland. You are some f’in moron to make such a statement. We’re you at the airport doing an exit poll or something?

Ass clown.

How fucking dare he say that. If his kids emigrate he can afford to buy their air fare home for holidays and add them to record tourists numbers. Still fuming!!!

I hate him!

Even if this was true, those that left to “see another part of the world” have no choice but to stay there now because they have nothing to come to home to except a long spell in the dole queue and an idiotic government!!! Bet his 3 out of 5 children are not worried about their futures should they decide to return!

Maybe Noonan should stand at the departure gates in Dublin airport with a sign that says “No need to thank us, just enjoy the experience” and see how those happy emigrants react.

Bit like saying the dole figure are going down because people are getting jobs.
no they aren’t getting jobs – they’re getting plane tickets

Let them eat cake, eh?

So 76,000 have gone on hols to Ozz and Canada in the past year without return? Well for some!

My comment was deleted? I only called him a “c**t”.

If he genuinely believes that, he needs to be dragged screaming out of Leinster house and locked away somewhere.

I can’t believe this, I have moved away in recent months but I would much rather be at home, I had my own business at home which I wanted to develop further but instead I found myself emigrating not because I wanted to but because I had to!! Get with reality Noonan!!

Like he’d know about a. Being Young b. Emmigration c. Finance d. Anything outside of being a well paid stooge of the financial spread betting ‘community’

Not Our Debt noddy!

RAGE!!!

Krossie

Noone was slowly gaining my respect for the way he was handling a difficult job, but after this!!! it just goes to show you a few months in power and the new bunch are entering into the same twilight zone the other shower were inhabiting

When I read comments like this I really do feel like I should leave this island myself. This is utterly ridiculous. Nonsense of the highest order. It is such a shame that the Irish people are reduced to this level of politician and representative.

Suggesting that young men and women are not leaving Ireland due to unemployment, ever-increasing taxes with ever-decreasing public services and a political class which simply REFUSES to “take the pain” along with the rest of society is either an extraordinary piece of spin or a worrying level of denial.

Our former goverment stuck their heads in the sand and refused to look at the real word as it was coming down around their ears. It is extremely disheartening that this goverment, which promised the people so much during the election campaign, is now doing exactly the same as its predecessors.

Minister, our best and brightest are leaving these shores because there is nothing here for them. If they stay they have a future of high taxes, poor public services, incompetent representatives, and the burden of paying off the unquantifiable negligence of previous governments at a time when the banking/financial sector has collapsed, the construction sector is finished, the legal sector is pushed to the edge and new business cannot get credit.

In short Minister – our young people aspired to great things during the boom years. They trained to be doctors, lawyers, accountants, engineers and architects only to find that, once qualified, there was no work, no prospects, greatly reduced salaries and finally the worst part of it all THEY WERE GOING TO SPEND THEIR ENTIRE LIVES PAYING FOR IT.

Thats why these young people are leaving Minister. Its certainly why the people I know have left. When I leave it will be for that reason too.

Michael Noonan out of touch with reality or just choosing to ignoring the facts?

Of course people are leaving the Country due to unemployment. Every single one of my friends who have bid farewell to these shores have had to leave because they just simply could not find work here. Of course you will have the casual travelers, those have always been there, using that as a reason for the huge numbers of Irish people emigrating is laughable.

Ya Michael I choose to be living in the dump that is Hull, you know to see spread my horizons and all that. I have been trying to move back to Ireland for the past 2 and half years and not a sniff of a job in my profession.How out of touch can politicians be!!

Is Noonan for real? does he genuinely believe that our youth has left en masse just to see the World?
He is so far distanced from reality it is hard to believe!

He and his cohorts in Gov really need a short sharp kick in the ARSE !

There is no work Noonan, that is why I, and many like me, are going away

Fuck it, look, let’s face it. They are deluded. Time for talk is over. Time for concerted action….

Reading between the lines this is what Noonan and his buddies are telling us!!

‘Aahhh, Planet Dail – a wonderful place!! Where we can claim loads of expenses without question, go for a subsidised pint ‘n a bit of grub. Where full pension entitlements accumulate at the speed of light………..okay slight fantasy there, pension entitlements only grow 4 times faster than other (civil/public and private sector) workers who need to work 40 years, while in planet Dail it just takes 10 years with the bonus of not having to wait till we are 65, even better those feckers outside will soon have to work till 68! As I said it’s a wonderful place with a great views from the Kildare Street Ivory Tower and if you look closely enough you can just make out the poor feckers beyond the wall having their arse shagged by the German’s, French, my fellow Dail members etc…. Ahhh Planet Dail a wonderful place!!’

Have to jump in here again, incensed by Noonans comments, its plainly a insult to all families who have lost their loved ones for whatever lenght of time they are gone to foreign destinations purely for some dignity and work .

And I am one of the lucky ones who has not lost an immediate family member.

Noonan you are a first rate F**king Twat !! plus all your other cohorts in Gov..

I am wondering what planet Michael Noonan is living on. I have spent the past few months saying goodbye to young people from the town I live in. Over 500 of them have gone in the past year. The majority of them do not want to go and would much prefer to find a job here. Micheal Noonan and his ilk are living in ivory towers, over paid, over expensed and good for nothing.

That must explain the suicide rate as well. The place is just rammed. We should build an extension.

its unemployment!!… noonan your a joke!! no credibility with statements like this

He would be eating those words if they all came back from their holiday and signed on.

As older people would say “what do you expect from a pig but a grunt”. Nothing that Noonan says or does surprises me after the callous and heartless way he treated Bridget McCole when he was minister for health. He basically waited till she died to avoid paying compensation for the damage done to her and her family by the then Blood transfusion service board. An ignoramus of the highest order.

Noonan! Your nose is getting longer.did he have a straight face saying this? Fianna fail .. All is forgiven . Second thoughts feck that too!

It’s hardly rocket science to see the economy has an effect.

Take the number of emigrants per year in 2003-2006 when there was no ecomonic necessity to leave. Those are your lifestyle migrants.

Subtract that number from the number of emigrants in 2011.

The remainder is the number of economic migrants.

I generally detest out of touch career politicians but the likes of Noonan, Kenny, Gilmore, Burton..lets just say the entire coalition…..have me reaching new levels of hate, and by hate – I hate them personally, I hate everything about them, I abhor them, I detest them and I detest those who blindly follow them.

Is he really on the same planet as the rest of us? I remember in the early 1980’s, a certain Brian Lenihan senior saying that it was only a small island and we all couldnt expect to live here, in the middle of the highest levels of immigration. Needless to say that the media backlash was appropriate and warranted. Looks like the same is going to happen to Mr. Noonan

I cannot believe this. Huge percentage of my class in college (graduated in MechEng in 2007) are abroad solely because they could not get work here, and would come home again if they could get work. I’m not saying that this is the case for everyone, but the sample size i am using is a lot bigger than Mr. Noonan’s 3/5 offsprings

That man is away with the fairies if he really thinks people weren’t forced to leave. It must be stupid comment week in the dail .

I’m lost for words. Does he live on planet earth.

Wow, disconnected from reality-I think so!!!

70,000 left last year because of what? A free choice of lifestyle Mr Noonan?
…and another 70,000 expected this year also?

Noonan, your an idiot!

And it wasnt hunger that had people leaving during the famine.Was it Mr Noonan???
Probably just fancied a bit of sun………..

“What we have to make sure is that our young people have the best possible education, right up to third level,” he said.

This has made me so angry. I did not go to college in Ireland, my home, for six years to up sticks and leave it. Seriously, what fucking hope does Ireland have when deluded twats like this cannot open their eyes to see that damage that has been done to the country on their watch, for fear they won’t sleep at night?! Fair enough if his children made a lifestyle choice and were happy to leave but do not be so profoundly stupid as to claim that every young person is more than happy to leave their family, their friends and their home to earn a living. I most certainly am not, so how dare you Michael Noonan. How dare you?

What a TWAT!…SHEEEZZZ!

The former director general of the International Labor Organisation, Juan Somavia, said that ‘if you look at globalisation from the point of view of people’s concern, its single biggest failure is its inability to create jobs where people live’,need one say more.

F.O.A.D

Is Mr. Noonan on medication? Because if he is, he appears to have forgotten to take them. :-/

As a Civil Engineering graduate of ’08 I can safely say that almost 80% of my class are now living abroad or have changed career altogether to try and find work. Slashing capital projects willy-nilly at home definitely does not help our chances of returning. My profession is certainly not alone. Go to Clapham any Saturday night and the number of young Irish people you meet there is staggering. The vast majority of these are in London as it was the only place they could find work, from Constuction to Nursing and Lawyers to IT professionals. They are by in large dreaming of an opportunity to return home but have no prospect of doing so. Seeing the cabinets complete indifference to us, the exiled young Irish really would bring you down. If that’s their attitude to “raising our young for export like cattle” then I’m going to do all I can, even from a distance, to make this a one (not even full-) term government!!!

that man might want to start talkin to some of his young constituents. if theres any left. cause i can tell ya, two thirds of my friends and family who have left it has been nothing other than pragmatism, and seeking employment. from a 22 yr old who’s been unemployed for 13 months. get your facts and perceptions straight minister.

Has this man any clue as to what’s going on?

I’m 23, graduated from University in 2010 and have been working different sales jobs since i left college, I want a career in the Police or Fire Service, but with bans on recruitment until 2014 in these sectors, I’ve been seriously thinking on moving abroad to pursue these goals. True, alot of other things like the weather, sense of travel and adventure are driving alot of Irish abroad, but permanent emigration has to be largely due to lack of opportunities in Ireland! No question..

Mr. Noonan, what’s the weather like up there on that cloud?

A bad day for politics. Yes it’s a lifestyle choice I’m sure …. In the same way as eating food is! Very poor choice of words / statement – should know better!!

He still has his mates to have a pint with in Merrion Sq, half of mine are in OZ because of the likes of him and his banker mates who ruined the country. what kind of airheads are running this country?

Noonan should join Rabbitte and both consigned to community work for at least 200 hours each.

Their gross pay cut to 188 euros a week.

All expenses denied.

All pensions denied.

What a pair of gobshites. So out of touch from reality, and certainly have not considered the general mood of the people of Ireland.

Rather than giving us the benefit of his undoubtedly wise insights, why doesn’t Noonan back up such an idiotic statement with some facts and figures? Who actually cares about his anecdotal evidence based on his own family (when daddy has an income his size if things go wrong) when people with considerably more experience of the “pain” we have to suffer are saying the opposite? What a fool.

Yes Mr Noonan, the comparison of your well to do kids living abroad with people who move abroad because there is no work for them here is completely apt.

I strongly suggest this guy just move from laces to velcro…he will have less difficulty with the later.

Dear Mr Noonan,

Can’t believe your ignorance to facts. Obviously, another politican not living in the real world. You have been a politician for as long as I can remember. After 30 years in national politics, its fair to say that if you have had your chance.
It is infuriating for Irish expats like myself that you feel the need to speak on our behalf to explain our rationale for leaving our beloved country.

Yes, perhaps people leave Ireland because there is a better quality of lifestyle in other countries. Prudent economic management, sensible regulation and astute investment in the growth of any country can give its citizens a lifestyle that is attractive enough to keep them at home. This, just incase nobody told you, is your responsibility as an elected representative of the people of Ireland. Herein, therefore is a direct link between your failure in your duties and the plight of so many people leaving the country.
I suggest, if you really want to know what peoples motives are for leaving, you dispatch some of your underlings to the departures area of Dublin airport. Ask them five questions:

1. Why are you leaving?
2. How long will you be gone?
3. Is the “island to small”, and do you just “want to get of the island”?
4. Are you leaving all all of your friends and family? Do you hate them?
5. What would attract you back to Ireland again?

When your underlings report back, I would be interested to see the results. Its not rocket science to run a country properly. You can even plagiarise a successful country like Switzerland where I am living. Of course, come election time, you will attribute the relatively low 14% unemployment rate to your own success in government as compared to Greece and Spain where the rate is even higher. Just make sure that the underlings factor in all of those Irish people who have left the country as they had no prospects and no confidence in you and your lot to sort your mess out.

For the record, we expats are leaving the country because we don’t want to feel like losers walking around with nothing to do all day. That would be bad enough, but listening to your bullshit every evening would be the last straw.
99% of Irish people are proud, hard working folks, drawing dole is not what we want to do. Our country needs serious change and you are incapable of delivering it. Resign and leave the country with the rest of your cronies. Then you will get to see what it is like to have to restart your life with no family around you.

Good riddance,
Dave

that is f*ckin hilarious!!! no we’d much rather stay here unemployed whilst the govt and various other retards tell us were all “work shy” lazy scroungers

NOONAN. GO AND ASK THE BUTT END OF ME UNCLE BILLYS BULLDOGS BOLLOCKS…. GO GET A JOB YOUR ACTUALLY QUALIFIED TO DO…. GROW MUSHROOMS,

He would have been right five years ago…but not now! While a desire to see foreign shores is undoubtedly an attraction for many, it’s lack of a bloody job that pushes them out in the end.
This government really is developing a nasty habit for saying the wrong thing at the wrong time. I cant help wondering if they actually want us to revolt….

I dont know how any FG/Lab person can defend this! Noonan is a disgrace, cowering to the Troika and now saying people are leaving as a lifestyle choice!!! Why did we vote for these clowns? FG were always going to cower to Europe but i’ve lost all respect for Labour! Disgraceful and Embarrassing – I dare him to say that to the countless parents and friends left behind

As a member of the Irish Democratic party I should for party sake, bite my tongue and watch my language – I do not want to bring bad light onto the IDP due to any words of my own.

..That said, I HAVE to say, Noonan is a right bloody, utterly stupid fool!

If you’ve ever wondered what it feels like to be on LSD, just imagine what it would be like to be locked away in Michael’s tiny little mind for 6-8 hours.
Yes boys and girls, it’s THAT level of detachment from reality!!!!

To have the nerve to use his own children as an example. Yes, because all of our parents are sitting on a Ministerial salary. Not to say that his children are not providing for themselves but they’re never exactly going to be in fear of having to sign on the dole or have to worry about how to pay the mortgage next month.

A free choice in as much as one can with a gun to your head.

is he crying in that photo

And a lot more people would love to leave Ireland, except they are trapped in negative equity…..

They are so dumb it is scary!! The reason why all my friends that have immigrated was down to the fact they could not get work here!!!

Noonan is once again proving how disconnected our politicians are, what an Assehole!!

Between comments like the this one by Noonan and FG’s pre-election promises (U-turns) I don’t see how they are ever going to be re-elected.

Common sense is obviously being tightly rationed in government. Perhaps Noonan should ask any parent whose sons and daughters have emigrated why they left? Doubtful if the abundance of jobs in the country will occur in their answers. Noonan’s ineptitude is matched by Howlin’s defence of public sector increments as reasonable, rather than a pay freeze. As days roll into weeks and months, the government’s incompetence and high handedness is approaching FF values.

What a stupid comment to make. It’s easy to know you have no loved ones the other side of the world unable to return because of hungry politicians and greedy bankers. You clown noonan

I would say arrogant moronic good for nothing useless shit bags like our minister for finance is another reason why young and old,people are leaving these stores. what hope has Ireland with a prick like that in finance?

To be fair, I’d get the hell out of the country too if I was related to Noonan…

What fcuking planet is he on. At this stage all you can do is laugh. “When ignorance reigns, life is lost”

They all live in a cocoon up there in Leinster house not knowing what is going on outside in the REAL world… Wake up and smell the coffee Mr. Noonan…We are at our wits end here… I like thousands of others are personally suffering this.. with loved ones living overseas because of no work in this country…

Dirty rotten scumbag…telling us the country is broke while ravenously helping himself to massive wages, huge expenses and the safety net of a golden handshake at the end of it all. Hopefully he won’t be around long enough to be a burden on the state after he retires.

This comment is an insult to all the people who have been forced to go abroad for work. Appalling rubish talk from Mr Noonan.

Yeah, my brother went to work on a building site in London as a “lifestyle choice”. Not because he couldnt get a job in Ireland doing what he’s qualified to do. Mr. Noonan, you are a jacka$$.

Noonan is off his rocker, unemployment would be closer to 25% if you include all those on training courses. Indeed it already is 25% in Donegal for the 18-30 age group.

The Irish youth are doing the government a favour by emigrating, not the other way around as Noonan seems to think.

I used to have respect for Noonan but the last 12 months have proved he is as out of touch as any of the FFailures.

Local soccer club just lost 5 unemployed 20 yr olds. All inemployed >3 years. Moving abroad is not a choice for them. Kids left behind as well.

Perhaps I would have emigrated, as a lifestyle choice, if my dad was Michael Noonan…..

Another stupid comment from him … What planet is he living on !!!!!

His comment has made my blood boil. I normally do not comment on here but enjoy reading them. How naive and ignorant Mr. Noonan speech about why so many young Irish people are leaving. It is because of them they are in this situation in the first place. All political parties that have been in charge of running Ireland have contributed to its downfall. A bunch of cronies with no regards for anyone but themselves. I say we the people of Ireland should form a new party. We should stand up and form community groups and focus on issues that are close to us. Then we register our party with these issues and rid our country once and for all of those rotten to the core leaders who have left a stench in the air and have dishonored us with their rhetoric.
This is what I would like to see the Irish people do. We are passionate about our country as our comments show that. We are sick of those out of touch politicians making a mockery of us. But I know that we are smarter than them because we have the power and it is us that keep them in their bubble. It is time to burst it! Are we willing to face the changes that are ahead? I could put hundreds of questions on here right now of why we should not stand up and be counted for. But I hope that we can prove to each other that it can be done if we stand together. A quote from a leader who had through strength and a person of the people said “Whatever you do will be insignificant, but it is very important that you do it” by Mahatma Gandhi.

talking through his hoop again trying to cover up the truth.

Would love to have some of what he is smoking, it’s easy for him to say his kids left because of a lifestyle choice .
Were they unemployed here for 3 years and getting 188 on the dole before they left. Did he give them a handout, it’s pretty easy when your earning 150,000 plus a year. Just another example of the Government not having a clue of what is really go on, or maybe they do and just don’t give a shit. Probably the latter. So get used to it guys there’s going to be alot more of this from shit spewing Politicians.

The sad reality is Noonan is just another DELUSIONAL politician. The Irish government are still living way beyond reality and their feet are a long way off landing back on solid ground!!!

Just another example of how “out of touch” these people are with reality living their sheltered lives!

Noonan is either a liar or a fool. He is either completely oblivious to the reality people face in this country or he is extracting the urine. Whatever the answer he should not be in the position he is in. Ah Democracy, its great to be free people. Free to leave.

Let the gombeen make nonsensical statements like this and let the electotate remember come polling day, hopefully sooner rather than later…

Hahaha, XD I was in serious need of a good laugh today…

It makes me very angry to hear a minister sprout such utter nonsense. I am overly qualified and working a rubbish job just so I can stay in Ireland. My family had to emigrate to the UK in the 1980s and both my sisters never returned; it meant that we are irrevocably separated. I can’t have my parents lose another child to emigration, so I am staying. Nobody leaves their home without good reason. Get a brain.

Excuse me minister but this isn’t a f**king episode of LOST…!

It’s blatantly clear that the majority of people leaving are doing so due to a lack of employment opportunities and the fact that their chances of getting work in the future are just as grim! Especially those involved in the construction industry! With the live register at its current level how could he possibly utter this nonsense? personally know a lot of people who have emigrated for employment purposes, I also know people who have left to explore the different lifestyles! However the ones that left to explore are not returning because their chances of securing a job on their return are slim! I came close to leaving myself a year ago but didn’t go in the end!

Look, until this gobshite is removed I would put him on warning that at some point he will be charged with treason for blatantly abusing his Ministerial Office for personal profit at the expense of the Irish nation. Now folks will you please get a move on and install a government that at least promises this course of action?

I will soon emigrate due to lifestyle choice.
I will chose to live in a country where the possibility of continued work is greater,
where I can buy a house,
have my future children be given good education,
where I wont be left on a trolley in a hospital hallway,
Where my taxes are not spent on lining politicians pockets or paying for their dry cleaning.
I never wanted to walk away from Ireland but after seeing the ethos of this government as well as the last, I have to do what is in the best interest of my family

where does Michael Noonsn live? his children might have had a choice about emigration but mine don’t. they like so many young people have a choice alright, life on the dole in Ireland or emigrate. working in Ireland is not an option now with so much unemployment. no future in the land they love

This pig needs to apologize immediately for his ignorant comment. Of course his spoiled spawn have a choice to migrate abroad for fun. With their connections I’m pretty sure they wont be lining up on any dole queues if they were here. As someone who has had to migrate in the recent past because of his father and his ilk’s mismanagement of the country I take immense offence to this.

That man is clearly a fool, I know of at least 10 young people who are in Australia and would much prefer to be here if there was any jobs for them, so there must be thousands of them unhappy about being abroad.

Earlier in these posts…. respondents asked what planet is he on??? …. well Mr Noonan has form in the planetary stakes… here’s an excerpt from Wikipedia..

“In 1994, the ‘Rainbow Coalition’ was formed and Noonan became Minister for Health. The department was embroiled in a scandal at the time regarding blood products contaminated with Hepatitis C virus, caused by the negligence of the Blood Transfusion Service Board. Noonan consistently held an authoritarian line on the case of Bridget McCole and would not budge on his views, suffering as a result of the scandal.He threatened to take Bridget’s mother Ellen to the Supreme Court when she wondered why her daughter had contracted the disease. Noonan was forced to establish the Hepatitis C Tribunal of Inquiry and to issue several apologies for his handling of the affair. Noonan remained as Minister until the 1997 general election. The Irish Times said “the woman involved had been infected by a negligent State agency, in the biggest health scandal since its foundation.” “

Face palm

we are to assume that it is everything but our septic political system that drives our citizens away……………….

WHAT a F..ing INSULT to People, Of course he is correct about his own Children, DADDY are we RICH or POOR ? Why LITTLE DALINGS ? Oh well I think we are Middle Class, That is what I tell every one when they ask especially the PEOPLE but they are total gombeens the TRUTH is we are RICH. Why dont you make a little life choice and spend a little time out of this Ireland of ours while these so called POOR suffer, I dont like you to be upset by them, Sure why wouldn’t you go on a little trip aren’t ALL THE POOR UNEMPLOYED only making life style choices, You Darlings are in titled to a bit of that. I SAY SACK HIM AND TAKE HIS PENSION AWAY FROM HIM HE IS A DISGRACE .

Thanks for the education! I would have loved to stay in Ireland but my future is in the UK.

Amazing. They went to see the world… The sad thing is that soo many people in this country genuinely believe that leaving is normal. They did it 30 years ago we are doing it now. Where is the trouble? It is so sad Mr.Noonan. The city is empty and only fills up for Christmas. Your investment in educating the irish youth is like money thrown out the wondow. And you don’t even care :(

is that gobshite on some sort of a trip? yea my only child is in australia for the last 4 months working,am i happy NO I AM NOT MR NOONAN. how dare he insult the kids who have had to leave their familys and friends through their incompedence.that man spouts nothing only verbal crap.

It’s a shame he didn’t feel that urge himself, but then where else would HE have it so good

It’s difficult to like Michael Noonan.

Can we forward this tread to Mr. Noonan and ask for a reply :)

I haven’t had a chance to look at my phone today until now and I honestly can’t believe someone who holds a position like him would come out with a comment like that. Imagine the mothers and fathers ,who worked so so so hard to give their kids and education see them leave this crumbling island because no jobs can be found, reaction to this comment?? To IRISH families up rooting kids to move to canada, australia, middle east to earn enough to give their kids a decent and proper life….mr noonan do you really honestly and truthfully think that the reason why so many families have been broken up is because they need to “see the world and do a bit of sight seeing??” How much longer as a nation can we put up with this?? How much longer are we going to take our, yes, OUR countries ruin at the hands of so called custodians of or state. We have enough fire in our bellies at this stage to take a stand and demand changes that suit us for a change. Demand we have a say in how our country can be saved. There is enough talent left here to pull us through, we need to get rid of this coalition first. We have too, if we’re going to survive

TALK ABOUT DENIAL

████ ██ █ ████ everything ███ █████ is █████ ████ ████ fine ████ ███ █ ██████ love █████ ██████ your government. ;-)

hahahaa look at the thumbs downs on all these comments, yet not one comment in support of noonan and his delusions, whoever is doing the thumbs down seems afraid to comment, is it his staff? his family members? or maybe the great man himself?

The question I would like to ask him is this how many emigrated when there was full employment in this country?? would really like to see those figures ..

Joan burton also said welfare was a lifestyle choice

why does this comment remind me so much of brian lenihan sr’s comment about there not being enough space on this small island for everybody. his political career didn’t last too long after that statement. why should noonans. out of touch, overpaid, and unfortunatley over here

I’ve never seen fewer thumbs down on any other thread on this site. Speaks volumes.

i would be gone in 10 minutes if i had the money to go

Spot on noonon there not driven away by unemployment, there flown in planes from unemployment, you really are a 1st class Moran!

████ ██ █ ████ everything ███ █████ is █████ ████ ████ fine ████ ███ █ ██████ love █████ ██████ your government. ;-)…………………………………..

Noonan – what an idiot ! Out Out Out !!! before we are all destined for decades of austerity.

What springs to mind everytime i hear comments from our current politicians is…..dissolve the dail…….dissolve the dail!! Mr Kenny, if there’s one thing you get right in your time is admit that it’s too big a problem for your inept coalition and make a phonecall to mr president and ask to dissolve the dail.

Thoughtless.

The arrogant Bastard…SACK HIM NOW or there will be as much left of Fine Gael as there is of the other FF’ers.

Jayziss I Voted for this lot

It’s wishful and delusional thinking. Sure, emigration was part of Irish culture even during the boom. People — especially young people — do want to get off this island. Part of it is now cultural — their parents and aunts and uncles did it. They’ve heard the stories of the so many years in America or London or whatever. So the existence of substantial emigration isn’t attributable to anything other than history and culture and yeah, how incredibly small this island is.

But the increase is directly attributable to unemployment and hopelessness. They don’t see a future here, and it’s an easy decision for Irish kids to make, because it’s something that’s done anyway.

LOL at his message that we need to educate the Irish kids who are going to leave and get jobs in other countries. Really? Can we get those countries to pay back the fees for those students when they become doctors and nurses there? I mean, obviously, we have to educate them, but hopefully not for the benefit of other countries.

is yer man for real!!!

NOONAN living on planet make believe the moron really believes people are leaving their homes to see the world ??? total gobshites these politicians

Have another look Noonan you gobshite.People are leaving because they are getting bled dry.Seems to be something new every day in one department or another.Ridiculous statement to make.
Free choice of lifestle me arse………Wake up……

Noonan you are a deluded fool.

It shows the arrogance and ignorance of this government, they do not and will not ever care about the people of Ireland, they’re only interest is in themselves.

what a lot of shit ,kids are not leaving out of choice but because they have no choice you gobshite ,you should be sacked immediatly if not sooner because you are not fit for the job ,but what can we expect from a man who dragged a dying woman trough the courts ,i demand that you apoligise at once for these stupid comments and then you should be put on a slow boat to china never to return

Is this man really living on the same island as the rest of us? What a load of hogwash!!! Just shows on in-touch with the people this Government is. Time for them to go methinks!!

There was a reason he left the front bench of Fine Gael. Kenny was an idiot to bring him back again. Goes to the heart of his leadership.

Re: that first sentence: ‘MICHAEL NOONAN HAS said that most emigration by young Irish people is a “free choice of lifestyle” ‘

Where did he say the word “most”? I can’t find that anywhere in any direct quote. Or the word “majority”, either. Have I just missed it somewhere?

From what I gather, all he said was that there was a non-specific proportion of those Irish living abroad who left Ireland for reasons not related to the economy or job market.

Which is …………true.

Whether it’s insensitive for a government minister to bring this up, when there are so many people who have had to leave the country less than willingly, is one thing. But what he said wasn’t factually inaccurate. This article’s first sentence, which claims that he said that “MOST” Irish abroad were there as a lifestyle choice, does seem fairly inaccurate, on the other hand.

Again, this is all riddled with vagueness. All I hear about are “a large amount of my friends” or “loads of people I know”.
Has anyone done any proper research into the motives of those emigrating?
Until someone can present some stats, can we all just agree that, of Ireland’s emigrants:
1) a non-zero number of them did so because they had to.
2) another non-zero number did so because they wanted to. ???

…..I would also, possibly controversially, suggest that there is also:
3) a non-zero number of emigrants who did so because they wanted to, but whose saddened parents/family left behind maintain that it was because they had to.

I am sure the ministers children are abroad as a lifestyle choice , most irish people with money send their kids to live expensive lifestyles off the old sod. But even if they were living here they would not have to worry about finding work or prosperity as they are part of the inner circle. I am sure a lot more people would be leaving ireland in search of work if they had the money to move and they weren’t under water on their house loans

Weird he had a completely different opinion in 2010, mentioned something about an unemployment i believe….not like a politician to tell lies??

http://research.finegael.org/news/a/3531/article

Stupid ignorant fat ugly pig

Looking lose at the photo
Is that a tear running down his big fat cheek ?

You have to hand it to that “man” ex Secondary School teacher Michael Noonan. That man is absolutely deluded but then again I am not surprised. He walked away from my door when I challenged him during the last election nearly 12 months ago so it’s no surprise that he would be so rude and ignorant to say it’s a voluntary decision. Yes, technically it is but it’s a forced voluntary decision. Much like it will be technical “voluntary decision”, if and when the Common Consolidated Corporate Tax base is introduced which will result in the Corporate Tax base of the state being eroded, when the Government don’t have a choice but to increase corporate Tax rate if they wish to maintain the tax take. They will have put it up and so the treaties will not have been breached. But they will have been forced to put it up if that comes to pass so the rate will have been pushed up via the back door. People need to be aware of this.

Betcha nearly half his mates haven’t been forced to move abroad… Grrr…

I would never ordinarily put anything like this in print on a public forum, but … I hope that Michael Noonan chokes on an enormous deluge of Beluga Caviar laden vomit tonight.

Clearly there are some people who want to travel/ emigrate but there should not be ONE single person who HAS to for economic reasons

Noonan should be held under the mental health act for his own good, he is so out of touch with reality living on Planet Fine Gael there are more sane people in mental institutions !!!!

put him in a straight jacket& throw a way the key

*close !

Hi. I urge you to watch this movie, regardless of your position on the economy or society. It is a lesson of economics. the First 15 mins are a revelation on the global banking system.

http://youtu.be/EewGMBOB4Gg

Who is he kidding. Has he looked at the live register latly.

Ming must have given him some waccy bakky

Yes, emigration is a lifestyle choice, as if it’s like a decision to join a gym instead of a home entertainment system; to do yoga instead of GAA…

…yes, just thinking of people i know, like middle-aged people leaving their families to seek construction work in Papua New Guinea and Poland, others out in the Arabian deserts with no hope of coming home to stable employment, nurses and teachers being trained for export: yes, all of them made simple lifestyle choices, no different from the decision to drink tea or coffee. Lifestyle choices.

Would love to have some of what he is smoking, it’s easy for him to say his kids left because of a lifestyle choice .
Were they unemployed here for 3 years and getting 188 on the dole before they left. Did he give them a handout, it’s pretty easy when your earning 150,000 plus a year. Just another example of the Government not having a clue of what is really go on, or maybe they do and just don’t give a shit. Probably the latter. So get used to it guys there’s going to be alot more of this from shit spewing Politicians.

when noonan cried on the pat Kenny show . over his wife’s alzheimers . condition every one felt sorry for him . because of how he felt . he told people if he got in the government he would look after the people of Ireland in anyway if F.G got in .well he has a very short memory .well now he is not crying for the Irish people that put him and his cronies in government they are laughing at us now .god rest his wife. and may god save us from them amen .

Is having a job a lifestyle choice?
I am currently a postgrad reasearch student in maths, and emigrated to France for two main reasons:
1. Nobody in Ireland was doing research in the area I was interested in, and I could not learn what I needed to there. The maths departments in Irish universities tend to be smaller than those of other universities in the US/UK/Canada/France/Germany/etc.
2. Maths postgrads in the UK, US, Canada, France and Germany are effectively employed by the university they work for. It normally works out as a moderate salary (although the top places the US and Canada can sometimes give out quite a bit), enough for rent, food and clothes. From what I understand, the opposite is true in Ireland, namely you pay the university tuition and sort everything else out yourself.

It depends on how you define choice. If neither of the above were true (I could do the work I wanted to do in Ireland and live on the salary I get from it), I would not have emigrated to France, where I know nobody and the language is not my mother tongue. Of course it is an interesting experience, but it is not a holiday.

Also, Michael Noonan says that some young Irish people “want to see another part of the world and live there”, but this does not account for the 17% increase. It annoys me because it suggests that the increase is down to the fickle desires of the young or something. Just as an anecdote, a friend of mine who studied engineering had two choices: retrain as an accountant or go to London. He chose London because, according to him, he wanted to do something that mattered, rather than sitting behind a desk all day (I don’t mean to insult any accountants; that was just the way he felt about it). That was his choice, but it was not as easy as Mr. Noonan puts it.

Weird he had a completely different opinion in 2010, mentioned something about an unemployment issue believe….not like a politician to tell lies??

http://research.finegael.org/news/a/3531/article

Robert Lynch might ask himself whether 76000 people a year were leaving Ireland in 2004 or 2005 or even 2007. If not, maybe he could explain the sudden surge in interest in other cultures and countries. Noonan says Ireland is a small island–yes, if you have a free driver and the use of a jet. Must be nice. What a maggot.

Oh FFS

I moved to New Zealand last February seeking work so I could pay my mortgage at home. I ended up homeless and eventually moving to Auckland to live on a bus and working at Pak n Save. I contacted the Irish Society in Auckland and they have got me back on my feet. I also missed out on Christmas because the wage I am earning would not of been enough to pay for my flights over and back. “free choice of lifestyle” What a CocoNUT . Not everyone’s parents earn a ministers salary and can afford to give their children such lifestyle choices.

Haven’t we heard this before….http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KAYpxOrhJT0

What a joke Noonan!

Its a mix of both. From what is being quoted above, he’s being a bit delusional. But certainly there is an element of people wanting to get out of Ireland for a while, which is the category that I fall into.