How we stand: an emigrant’s view

I AM one of the 100,000 people Joe Costello spoke of in the Dáil (June 17). I left Ireland within the past two years ago.

Going to work abroad no longer carries the trauma or stigma that seems to have been endured by those who left in previous times. Indeed it can be a positive experience now, even if it is very damaging for the country.

The country I came to, Belgium, and the life I get to live here, is not fulfilling my every hope and dream. It’s not even financially lucrative, but what I do have here is a sense that one day my potential may be realised, that I can pursue a career worthy of the brilliant education I received, ironically, in Ireland.