We are indebted to our emigrants

THE RTÉ Prime Time TV programme on Irish emigrants to Britain, shown late last year, stirred the consciousness of the Irish at home and raised awareness of the problems of some members of our community in the Britain.

I was in Ireland shortly after the programme was shown in late December and encountered a mixture of feelings about the plight of those who had emigrated in difficult times.

Many of the people I met were deeply shocked at the images portrayed on the programme. These contrasted with their own experiences of family members who had done well in England. They felt bad that they had never considered emigration a great hardship and a few admitted they thought those who left Ireland invariably had life easy.