Go east, young man

Part 2

by Ellen Barry

Ten years ago, of course, the Irish economy was worse off than almost any in Western Europe; incomes, measured by gross domestic product per person, were 63 percent of Britain's. But in the late 1980s, Ireland embarked on a period of economic growth that can be compared only with East Asia's, expanding so fast that it is known wonderingly as the "emerald tiger." Officials use the word miracle in describing Ireland's transformation, but the explanation lies largely in foreign investment, combined with a well-educated work force, cuts in social welfare, and relative wage stability.

The rise in incomes has not been lost on young emigrants, especially those in the booming construction and high-tech industries. And after a century of population drain, the tide is beginning to turn homeward. In the four years ending in 1991, an estimated 27,000 Irish moved abroad every year; in the four years that followed, that average dropped to 5000. Last year, more Irish arrived than left, and the government anticipates a similar return this year.

Chiefly, the returnees are coming from the European Union -- a full 50 percent were moving back from the United Kingdom -- but the trend has extended to the United States. In the 1995-96 period, 6000 people left Ireland for America, and 6600 left America to return to Ireland, in marked contrast to earlier years, when America netted 4000 Irish immigrants a year.

The return traffic has changed demographically, too. In the past, according to moving companies along the East Coast, long-time emigrants would return when they were ready to retire. This year's returnees, by contrast, are in the prime of their working lives, with young children born here. Although there are no numbers available for this 1997, shippers like Allworld Removers' Gayle Fuller -- whose company moved 15 carpenters' families back to Ireland from Nantucket last year -- are familiar with the profile.

"Most of them are young. They came here three, four years ago, and I think it's to a point that they're very homesick," she says. "They get torn, the poor things. They don't know whether to go or whether to stay."

For Mary, a 33-year-old from County Kerry who has been living happily in Dorchester for nine years, it came down to the children. She's moving back in part so that her three-year-old and five-year-old will grow up Irish, in Irish schools.

"They will have more freedom. You have to watch every move they make here," she says. "We're planning to move back before they get too much older. Forget going back after 10, anyway."

Mary's family is not unusual. To emigrant parents, Ireland sometimes seems like the best of all possible school districts -- a refuge from crime and drugs and the influence of mass culture. In her neighborhood, 10 young couples have moved back this year, selling their houses and investing the proceeds in land back home. (Sometimes they invest in a lot of land; one acquaintance bought five farms in his hometown in preparation for his return.)

Mary and her husband are planning to open a bed-and-breakfast in Dingle in a year or so, when the family gets settled. Her feelings are by and large optimistic, although she's anxious about the childrens' accents.

"When you come back, you're a Yank," she says. "I worry about that."

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Ellen Barry can be reached at ebarry[a]phx.com.