True rate of emigration still unknown

THE true number of Irish emigrants has not yet been recorded but less than half are likely to return unless we have another Celtic Tiger, an expert has said.

As dozens of recent emigrants prepare to address a seminar on the topic today, one organiser claims previous migration patterns suggest a much lower level of return than that which followed the wave of emigration in the 1980s.

Research suggests more than 472,000 people left Ireland during that period and about half of them returned.