Election 2011 - Emigration figures a real indictment

IN what has been a terribly distressing time for anyone who wants to be proud to be Irish, and as this wretched government shamelessly clings to power, one indicator of failure published this week may not have received the attention it must.

Though it is tempting to turn away, even for a few hours, from the miseries brought about by our “vindicated” Taoiseach Brian Cowen, his government, his predecessors and our misplaced trust the weeks leading to a general election is not the time to look away. Doing so just guarantees more of the same.

This week’s report from the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) suggested that 100,000 people will have to leave this country to find work in the next two years. They tell us that more than 1,000 people will leave each and every week of 2011 — 60,000 — and that 40,000 more will follow them to only God knows where next year.