Huge numbers heading Down Under
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) quarterly questionnaire cannot say exactly where these people went — however, it corresponded with a doubling in the numbers emigrating to a category that includes Australia.
Latest figures released through the Australian Department of Immigration have shed further light on the new generation of emigrants.
Since 2002:
The number of Irish people classed as temporary residents in Australia has risen by 38% to 18,585.
One in 20 people arriving in the country for an extended period was Irish.
n52,087 Irish people went on holiday to Australia in 2007, an increase of 37%.
The CSO survey could not estimate how long the 19,300 people in their late 20s to early 40s, who travelled abroad last year, are planning to stay.
However, according to the Australian authorities a rising minority of people are making the move permanent.
Five years ago 1,060 Irish people became permanent Australian residents, while last year the figure was 1,668.
In 2007 Eoghan Kelleher, 27, from Whites Cross, Co Cork, joined the burgeoning army of ex-pat professionals filling vacancies in Australia.
An engineer, Mr Kelleher said there is a discernible distinction between younger people travelling on working holidays and those looking at career opportunities.
“A lot of people want to go labouring, particularly the younger ones who are coming out taking up jobs and sites and make a few quid. But for those of us who are a bit older, we have worked maybe three or four years at home and wanted to do this before reaching 30, it was either buy a house or go working in Australia and the way things are at home a lot come down here,” he said.
Last year those travelling to the “rest of the world” — a category the CSO largely takes to mean Australia — accounted for 42% of all emigrants.
Mr Kelleher said of those working in the cities of Sydney, Perth and Melbourne, the vast majority will return home.
“There are very few people I know that see themselves staying long-term. You meet people who might have been here 12 or 15 years but most will stay for a bit and go home while they are still around 30. Most people who are staying longer than they first planned are not making any final decision about the future but I could not see many staying more than three years to be honest,” he said.
Under the Australian skilled professionals’ sponsorship employers are keen to entice tradesmen, accountants and engineers to take up long-term roles.
“Some professions can do very well out here. They don’t have enough accountants so the opportunities are massive. A chartered accountant can earn about 60 bucks an hour.
“People come over on the year working visa when you are only supposed to work for six months at a time but there is the opportunities for sponsorship,” he said.
