Tag Archives: emigration

AROUND 57,000 passengers are set to arrive into the country through Shannon for Christmas, sparking countless emotional scenes and moments at the airport. On Tuesday afternoon, Paddy Fitzgerald from Corofin was waiting for his daughter Catherine and her husband to arrive from London. He said his daughter had been born in England and after coming back to live in Ireland, had returned to London again. “Catherine was born there, Richard is an Englishman. Catherine would have been home and then went back in the early 1980s. They’re staying for a week and going back for New Year’s.” Frances and Seamus Cahill from Galway were waiting for their daughter, Rowena, son-in-law and one-year-old grand-daughter, Celia.This will be their first time to have a grandchild in the house for Christmas. “We’re looking forward to it. We’ve pushed the boat out and we’re hoping everything will be good,” said Seamus. There was much excitement when Rowena arrived with her daughter Celia walking beside …

NON party candidate Joseph Enright, who is from Kilrush and lives in Kilmihil, is the 16th candidate to declare for the local elections on May 23, in the enlarged West Clare constituency. He declared for election on Friday, May 2. The 16 candidates will vie for eight seats. The former Garda sergeant has an avid interest in the Irish language and is chairperson of Coiste Forbartha Gaeltachta Chontae an Chláir. He says that he is conscious of poverty of depopulation in west Clare though emigration, which Mr Enright claims is “due to a lack of sufficient investment in west Clare, going back to 1922.” The election candidate is calling the economic situation in west Clare “Operation Catch Up.”

By Owen Ryan THERE were fewer people on the live register in Clare last month than was the case in any month of March since 2008. Figures from the Central Statistics Office showed that last month there were 9,023 people signing on in the Banner county, down from 9,242 in February. That drop of 239 equates to a drop of 2.5% in a single month, and, when compared to the figure of 9,869 in March of last year, the decline in the number signing on is slightly over 8.5% in one year. Comparing the figures for the month of March over the last number of years is quite telling. In March 2007, with the country still in rude economic health, there were just 4,102 people on the live register. Twelve months later, the number was almost 25% higher at 5,126. Over the next year, the economy would decline dramatically and, in March of 2009, the number on the live register …