Small Nation
One of the better blogs that I monitor is Small Nation - run by Iain MacLaren, a Scot now living in Ireland. I'm not saying that I agree with what he says but it's well written and thought out stuff.
After the recent call by the SNP for expats to come home, I've challenged Iain to explain how the Irish government have been so successful at this.
It can't just be about economic conditions - Scotland is doing pretty well in terms of economic growth, employment rates etc.
I personally think the Irish comparison is unfair - their economy has grown very fast but from a relatively low starting point. Apparently 280k Irish have recently returned home, but this figure does not give any idea about long term net change in the population.
Anyway - contribute to the debate over at Small Nation.
After the recent call by the SNP for expats to come home, I've challenged Iain to explain how the Irish government have been so successful at this.
It can't just be about economic conditions - Scotland is doing pretty well in terms of economic growth, employment rates etc.
I personally think the Irish comparison is unfair - their economy has grown very fast but from a relatively low starting point. Apparently 280k Irish have recently returned home, but this figure does not give any idea about long term net change in the population.
Anyway - contribute to the debate over at Small Nation.
posted by Digbeth D'Marriotti at 1:26 PM
1 Comments:
Hi! Thanks for the nice plug! Appreciate your positive comments. As for the question you pose. Well it's an interesting one. The economic case is a strong one though, since salaries and quality of life for those in professional level jobs in Ireland are high. Equivalent posts in Scotland would pay a lot less. If you're at the lower end of the salary scale though its not so great given the absence of a proper NHS equivalent, high house prices, etc, though on the positive side the dole, pensions and student grants (you heard me right!) are higher.
Most of the returners to Ireland over the past few years have been people (like my wife) who left in the 1980s when there was very high unemployment here. Indeed, most university graduates at that time left the country within months of graduating. Since they're been abroad (mainly US and UK, but a fair smattering of other European destinations, too) the Irish economy has turned around dramatically with huge annual growth rates and major new investment in public services (and associated jobs) As a very recent example, in the budget a couple of weeks ago an additional 1 billion euros was put aside for higher education, so we are talking about developments well out of Scotland's league, unfortunately.
This has created jobs in high tech industries, research and finance which has drawn back many of the exiles of the 80s who have in the interim built up very impressive CV and so can compete well with international candidates for posts.
The fact that the country has the ability to determine its own priorities and is small enough to be flexible gives it a very distinct advantage in comparison with Scotland. Irish embassies and trade missions have an excellent record abroad and the strong sense of national identity means that ex-pats (good name for the Irish) are kept closely in touch with developments back home.
Does that help explain things a bit better??? Just a quick response...
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