‘90% of young rural people consider emigration’

Young people in rural areas have given up on Ireland, with nine out of 10 considering emigration, according to Irish Rural Link’s CEO Seamus Boland.

Irish Rural Link (IRL) — a national group campaigning for sustainable rural communities — is hosting a conference entitled “Awakening Communities” in Summerhill, Co Meath today.

The conference aims to mobilise rural communities in order to tackle the decline experienced in their areas as a result of the recession.

Mr Boland believes rural Ireland is back where it was when IRL was founded in 1991. He said a new white paper on rural development is badly needed.

“We are going to have to start shouting and advocating and developing ideas ourselves. If we hang around much longer hoping government policy will come around to our thinking we will lose two generations,” he said.

Citing the demise of rural Garda stations, rural services, unemployment and emigration, Mr Boland said “there is no policy for rural Ireland”.

He said: “The current government and the previous government before they left office, they were totally focused on the finances, as if this country and everything else came second.

“While this crisis is going I don’t have any great confidence in this government,” he admitted.

In terms of young people in rural Ireland, he said: “I would say nine out of 10 young people we talk to have considered emigrating.”

While not all those considering emigration will leave, Mr Boland said “they have given up effectively on this country doing anything for them”.

“Awakening Communities” will call on the Government to support community co-operatives to run rural services, ask communities to support farmers affected by the fodder crisis, and aims to raise awareness of the value of rural communities.

* For further information check www.irishrurallink.ie.