The flight of the Irish - curse we must bring to an end

IN times of crisis — political, economic, religious or simply hunger — the Irish have always emigrated. No matter how grim things got flight was always an option, albeit one of last resort.

Emigration is the eternal curse of the Irish. Generation after generation families are torn apart and far too often the very people who might break the perpetual cycle of social and political dysfunction that strangles this country are also the ones with the determination and capacity to emigrate.

They must try to build new lives abroad while their families, especially their parents, are denied the pleasures they hold dearest — watching children become parents and loving contact with their grandchildren. To recognise the loneliness caused by breaking this simple cycle is not sentimentality, just a recognition of life’s ebb and flow, the process that defines humanity.