Immigration to Ireland - policies, challenges, and solutions *Read OP before posting*

Or how about the 80's when 450,000 emigrated?

And I recall those days well and quite disagree with yiu.

This was a swell time according to some. It is the sort of blinkered nostalgia that held the state back in the early days and under De Valera. For those of us who had family members forced to emigrate and especially when flights were so expensive you couldnt visit them that at all that point of view is just baffling.

Having a great childhood and being able to see the past for what is was, isn't mutually exclusive.

Much of societal issues doesn't touch children's lives, they are very sheltered from what goes on in the adult world.

Being able to criticize things that happened in the past, doesn't mean people dislike Ireland, that's a very childish view.

I fail to see any genuine affinity with a country from a poster who casually disregards an entire ethnicity.

I had a good childhood in the eighties but for a lot of adults it was terrible time with high inflation and unemployment. By any metric it was a hard time to be in ireland. I just find it odd that anyone would want a similar economic situation to be occuring in ireland or have a society that had no abortion rights, poor treatment of gays, no divorce, catholic church stranglehold on society. If you think that was a grand old time perhaps these issues like emigration didnt affect you.

I have no idea what you mean.

Instead we get a society where most of our youth will never own homes, high rates of depression of other mental illnesses, broken communities, broken family units, rising crime and many other negatives. Everything really seems to come back to the Catholic Church with people like yourself. It's an almost irritational hatred of all things Catholic. The Church did indeed commit many evils, but there were many positive elements to society that came with religion. Every good society needs a sound moral base that we all buy into, and said base has often come from religion. Secular society is an new experiment, and experiment that I honestly struggle to see many positives emerging from. Gay rights, abortion, and any other form of modern "progress" that people like yourself cling onto as the best of our new world, are a hard sell to some of us, as these things do not enhance the lives of the majority, and often come with many of their own problems.

That's not an example of arbitrage.

What are you saying here? Because we don't agree with your rosy viewpoint that means we are not entitled to post here?

I grew up very happily and have many lovely memories , but it is as a young adult I noticed the deficits in this rosy view of our country.

We made the best of it, but it wasn't affluent or enriching in most senses of the word

Considering most peoples' recollection of the 70s and 80s was a country rife with unemployment, inequality, nepotism and corruption , and now as we know also sexual and child abuse,among religious, I would think your post came from a very singular position or you are taking the proverbial and wasn't alive then !

Like where were you??

Think maybe you were one of the religious yourself or closely affiliated by your posts.. or were too young to remember that time.

I guess if you were from a privileged background or enjoyed being told what to do and how to live your life endlessly by middle aged men , you could support that type of society?

Most of us that could, did come back when things improved. Worked hard, reared our families paid our taxes..

And have as much right to talk about our country as you or any other. On any forum.

We lobbied and voted to change our country into the open successful country it is today.

This is the country our children and you benefit from. But it is not perfect, yet, I agree.

Far from denigrating returned emigrants who are outspoken most are glad to welcome home people who are not just passive passengers in society who doffed their hats or genuflected to those in charge or dog collars.

Especially those that stayed home because for some reason, family / economics, they didn't leave and had to struggle through the mire of conservatism and begrudgery that faced them everyday.

I know so many who were depressed, suffered abuse and were villified becsuse they didn't fit the mold, but couldn't leave because of family commitments.

Those that left were surprised and delighted to be treated with respect for their education and their enthusiasm, having been doscouraged and held back in this country, and rewarded for it well. They gave as much to their adopted countries and more.

This is the reason why the Irish emigrants are valued and respected, all over the world as open, industrious, friendly and enjoy life.

Do you think some of the posters expressing xenophobic and blinkered views would be acceptable or welcome in any modern country, except maybe those under authoritarian rule? And lets face it, they don't want them either!

So thank you for this post.

It sets out very clearly why many parts of our country need to open up and let new people in, and why some people need to get out and travel a bit, and see how others live , more than anything else!

Genuine question - what modern country would you like Ireland to emulate?

Ireland of the 1950s but zoomed forward in time 😉

The person I replied to mentioned gays, I simply responded. Most people know more gay people than lesbians though, so it makes sense.

I have genuinely never heard of anti modernism before. What time period and in what country do you think society was at its best?

I can't seem to find my post in response earlier unless I am overlooking.

These women and children must be fighting the wars these men are fleeing from.