Daft Property - Irish Property News

Expert says Irish emigration wildly exaggerated... IRELAND IS in the grip of a “media, moral and public panic” about emigration that is not justified by the number of Irish people leaving the country, a migration expert has said. Prof James Wickham, director of the Employment Research Centre at Trinity College, told a conference yesterday that during the general election campaign politicians and the media wildly exaggerated emigration rates. “During the election we were told every day how 1,000 Irish people were leaving the country every week. The only problem with that is that a substantial number of them are returning immigrants,” said Prof Wickham. The most recent estimates published by the Central Statistics Office indicated 27,700 of 65,300 emigrants recorded in the year to the end of April 2010 were Irish. Prof Wickham said there is a very real danger that the “media, moral and public panic” surrounding emigration could become a self-fulfilling prophecy. “The rhetoric...

'My business closed and I couldn't find long-term work'... LAST MONTH Helena gave birth to her daughter Anna. Four weeks later, she faces the possibility of eviction from a homeless hostel in Dublin with Anna, her two sons Ondrey and Patrick, and her husband Stefan. The family, who are originally from the Czech Republic, are just one of hundreds – and possibly thousands – of EU migrant families experiencing destitution as the recession tightens its grip. Stefan and his family arrived in Ireland in 2006 to find work and create a new life. He worked for several months as a self- employed painter, but work dried up as the economy slowed. He picked up sporadic work here and there but ended up relying on benefits. “My business closed and I couldn’t find any long-term work. They have now stopped our social welfare benefits and want to send us back to the Czech Republic,” says Stefan, who is a member of the Roma community. “I dont want to go back to the Czech Republic. T...

Surge in emigration as economic downturn takes toll... THE NUMBER of people moving to live in Australia, Canada, the US, New Zealand and Britain over the past year has increased sharply, reflecting a major surge in emigration due to the recession. New figures show Irish citizens have received 21 per cent more long-term resident visas for Australia, 49 per cent more New Zealand resident visas and 33 per cent more US immigrant visas. There has also been a 100 per cent increase in the number of Canadian work permits issued to Irish people and a significant increase in the number of similar visas issued for Australia. The number of people moving to Britain has risen by 2 per cent in 2010, which amounts to just under 1,000 Irish people moving to Britain every month to live. The figures from five of the most popular destinations for Irish emigrants are in line with recent data from Central Statistics Office, showing 65,300 people emigrated in the year to April 2010, the highest number leavin...

THE number of Irish people being forced to emigrate to find work has hit a 20-year high, with the numbers edging towards the 30,000 level. The level of overall emigration, including non-Irish nationals, has remained constant at 65,300. But the number of Irish nationals leaving these shores including families was 27,700 in April, up 42pc on last year. Migration from other countries to Ireland has also slumped. The number of migrants dropped significantly to 30,800 in April from 57,300 last year, according to new figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO). The figures also show the highest level of net outward migration to 34,500 in April since 1989. Economists said yesterday that our youngest and brightest are being forced out of the country to find jobs because of slump in the economy. "The bulk of this is forced emigration," said Friends First economist Jim Power. "What we're doing is what we did very well in the 1980s and it is unambiguously negative. "T...

Big move is abroad as market stagnates... MASS EMIGRATION may be an unwelcome throwback to the past for many Irish people but for the removals industry the growing exodus of workers to far-flung destinations means business is booming once again. Some of the sector’s largest firms are reporting dramatic increases in the numbers of people moving lock, stock and barrel to Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the UK. Most of these migrants are families who have cut their losses on property at home or are renting out their homes in the expectation of a return in three to five years’ time. Last month, a report from the EU Commission showed more people were leaving Ireland than anywhere else in the European Union and commentators attributed these rising emigration levels to departing non-nationals and young Irish males in search of better job prospects. But according to Eamonn Finn, of Allen Removals, the “overwhelming majority of clients are Irish families who have decided to move overseas per...

Irish emigration soars as Celtic Tiger’s cubs hunt for jobs... The number of people leaving the Republic has swelled far beyond those of every other country in the European Union, says research. An estimated 40,000 people emigrated last year, according to the EU's statistics office, Eurostat, a rate almost twice as high as that of Lithuania, the next most affected country. It is expected the flow may worsen as the Republic faces years of severe financial difficulties. A research institute has warned that 200,000 people, in a country of 4.5 million, may be forced to emigrate by 2015 if job opportunities do not improve. The unprecedented prosperity of the so-called Celtic Tiger years seemed to have consigned emigration to the history books. Its reappearance is regarded with dismay. Some of those leaving are thought to be immigrants who came to Ireland in large numbers from mainland Europe over the last decade and who, unable to find jobs, are returning home. But a large proportion a...

THE Government has been accused of presiding over a graduate "brain drain". Unemployment among graduates has almost trebled in the past two years, and student leaders say more and more college leavers are being forced to quit the country. Central Statistics Office (CSO) figures reveal there were 68,600 unemployed graduates in March, compared with 25,400 at the same time in 2008. The jobs problem is greater for males, who account for 60pc of out-of-work graduates, up from 56pc two years ago. The Economic and Social Research Institute recently warned that 200,000 people may be forced to emigrate between now and 2015 if unemployment is not addressed. And the Union of Students in Ireland (USI) says many of these will be highly skilled graduates. USI president Gary Redmond said it was ironic the Jeanie Johnston famine ship was docked in Dublin's IFSC, the area that was once the heart of Ireland's Celtic Tiger economy. USI members are planning a protest at the ship today to...

The victims of Ireland's economic collapse... Ireland was hailed during the boom years as a 'celtic tiger'. But now the government has had to introduce huge cuts to deal with its budget deficit. How is it affecting ordinary people? When Ann Moore returned to have breakfast with her family after a 12-hour night shift at a nursing home, she found riot police and bailiffs outside her home of 16 years. She and her husband, Christy, and their three children were being evicted. Despite climbing a ladder to the top of the house for six hours in a desperate attempt to thwart the bailiffs, the distressed care worker was eventually coaxed down and taken to hospital. Her home in the southern suburbs of Dublin was promptly boarded up. The Moores were badly in arrears, owing the council €10,000. For eight months, Ann had been paying back €50 on top of her €100 weekly rent. But in a country where 300,000 homes lie empty, the authorities decided to make the Moores homeless and punish them...

If you want to escape, it will cost you... Not so long ago, emigrants were paid to go to Australia -- today, it could cost a few grand to get into Oz...beating the downturn...the hidden cost emigrating to find work. WITH up to 300 jobs a day being lost in Ireland, anyone would be tempted to hop on a plane out of here. Although no country is likely to escape, Canada is expected to avoid the worst blows. Small wonder then that Canada is becoming a more popular place to emigrate to than in the past. Other favourites include Australia and New Zealand. Although the US and Britain have their fair share of recession blues, the traditional links between both countries and Ireland continues to draw Irish emigrants there. However, the cost of emigrating could burn a deep hole in your pockets. CANADA Home to the Rockies, the grizzly bear and the awkward moose, anyone emigrating to Canada certainly won't be hungry for the great outdoors -- but you could need almost €18,000 to enter the countr...

The latest house price figures, which show prices falling by 0.5pc in November, seriously underestimate the true extent by which prices have fallen. And there is almost certainly more bad news to come in the New Year. Every month, mortgage bank Permanent TSB publishes its index of house prices. The index, which is compiled by the ESRI and has shown a decline in house prices for every month since March 2007, is generally regarded as being the most authoritative and up-to-date source of information on the state of the Irish housing market. foolproof Unfortunately, the Permo numbers are not foolproof. They are based on completed house prices during the month. With huge stocks of unsold new and second-hand houses on the market, and up to 18-months supply at current levels of demand by some estimates, sales are taking much longer to close than they used to. What this means is that the Permo numbers reflect sales that were agreed four, five or six months ago, as far back as last May or June,...

Poles flee ailing Irish economy... When the European Union expanded eastward in 2004, Ireland opened its doors to workers entering from former communist states to help maintain record economic growth. Now, immigrants are heading for the exit. The number of people leaving Ireland next year will outstrip those moving to the country for the first time in 14 years, according to Economic and Social Research Institute in Dublin. The biggest exodus will be among the 170,000 workers who arrived the past four years from Poland and other east European states. ''It's a very hard situation,'' said Artur Kawczynski, 30, who lost his factory job in Galway on Ireland's west coast 10 days ago. ''I rang my friends in Poland to ask what job opportunities there are like.'' Immigrants like Kawczynski fed the manufacturing and building booms that helped double the size of Ireland's economy during the past 10 years and made it the most dynamic in western Europe. N...

The middle classes bear the brunt of crippling hikes in cost of living Cost of living survey The real cost of living is rising much, much faster than official figures suggest... The Sunday Independent/IIB Homeloans Cost of Living Index reveals who is being squeezed hardest and who can keep spending like there’s no tomorrow... THE MIDDLE CLASSES Cost of living up 14% in just two years THE Irish stock market is down 65 per cent, property prices are down about 20 per cent and Lansdowne Road won't be open for another two years. It's been an awful time for Ireland's aspiring middle classes. They have been hockeyed as their cost of living has risen at about one and a half times the national average. If you've bought a des res in Ranelagh, you'll feel the pain of a 68 per cent jump in mortgage repayments over two years. Especially if your house has lost 20 per cent of its value. Education costs are up 11.3 per cent. Insurance costs are up 3.6 per cent in the last year. Hea...