‘This is no country for young men’ say job-hunters with eyes on Canada

It’s no country for young men, especially in rural areas where the recession has decimated the jobs market.

That was the opinion of three friends from Tipperary town who were among 2,000 people who travelled to a Canadian Jobs Expo in Cork yesterday in the hope of getting a job abroad.

Michael Ryan, 26, Sean Coleman, 27, and William Kelly, 21, are all unemployed construction workers.

“We’re depressed doing nothing. There are no opportunities for us. If we found a bit of happiness there I think none of us would come back. This country’s just ruined,” Mr Coleman said.

Michael Breen, Limerick, and Gary Mooney, Tullamore

The others agreed, adding that while they were patriotic they saw no future in Ireland.

“I’d be gone now if it wasn’t for all the (visa) forms we have to fill in,” added Mr Ryan.

Bernard O’Shea, 26, from Killarney, was there with his girlfriend, Mary Quigley, 21, from Turners Cross, Cork.

The chef said he’d like to work abroad for a while, but would like to return to Ireland. However, Mary, who works in healthcare, didn’t seem to share his aspirations.

Richard O’Leary, Carlow, job-hunting at the Canadian Expo in Cork.

“I’m not coming back, this country is rubbish,” she said.

Unemployed plasterer Richard O’Leary, 29, who travelled from Carlow, said six of his friends had gone to Canada to find work and were getting on well and he was hoping to follow in their footsteps.

CIT engineering students Gary Mooney and Michael Breen, both 22, wanted to see the world and “get a bit of work experience” which they said is hard to gain here.

Calgary, which is the driving force of the province of Alberta, has plenty of jobs on offer across the board.

Jeanette Sutherland, manager of Calgary’s workforce and productivity department, said 18,000 jobs were created in the province last month alone and the prospects looked rosy.

Mary Quigley, Turners Cross, Cork, and Bernard O’Shea, Killarney at the Expo

“Calgary has the highest salaries in Canada and is home to most of the head offices of all the major energy companies,” she said.

While many of the jobs on offer are male-orientated in construction and mining, she added there was also a huge need for people in the hospitality, management, finance and IT sectors.

“We have a very strong Irish population and the average population age in the whole community is 36.5.”

Kristy Whetham, HR manager with Tarpon engineering, said they’d taken on 80 Irish electricians in the last 18 months and were looking for 25 more.

“They’re good workers and a good addition to our overall strategy,” she said.

Linda Scott, a recruitment officer for Alberta Health Services, said she was always looking for registered nurses.

Kristy Whetham of Tarpon Energy Services, Western Canada.

“There are great opportunities for them. Basic salaries can be up to €58,500, and that’s without shift premium, overtime etc,” she said.

Des Alvey, a Wicklow-born business development manager with Talon Energy, emigrated to Canada along with his wife, Ciara, who is from Dublin.

They left in 2007 with their one-year-old son and now have three children and an envious lifestyle.

Last year his company recruited 10 people at the Cork expo and he was hoping to recruit more.

“There are lots of opportunities for people. If you work hard you get well paid for it and you’ll get successful quite quickly.”