Thousands attend Working Abroad Expo in Cork city

JOB HUNTERS DESPERATE to find work abroad queued from 5.30am in freezing temperatures in order to secure their attendance at an international jobs fair.

Thousands attended the Working Abroad Expo in Cork city yesterday, where over 45 exhibitors from Canada and Australia offered jobs and advice on emigration and living abroad.

Carpenters, machine operators and electricians, many of whom were without tickets, were among the thousands of hopefuls who queued patiently for hours outside the Silver Springs Hotel before entering the exhibition.

About 1,000 tickets were sold in advance of the event. Such was the demand that organisers SGMC International stopped selling online tickets on Monday night.

From around lunchtime yesterday security guards began advising those looking to join the queue they were unlikely to get in.

Companies across Canada and Australia were recruiting across a range of sectors, including mining, construction and healthcare, while skilled tradespeople such as fitters, welders, mechanics and electricians were also in demand.

Although he had a ticket, John Daly (44), from Cappamore, Co Limerick, slept overnight in his car after driving to Cork on Tuesday evening. A construction industry driver who has been out of work for nearly two years, he began queuing at 5.45am outside the Cork city hotel.

“I’m here today to see if I can get some kind of a job. I’m searching for work week in, week out, and there’s nothing. I’ve a mortgage and I don’t know what’s going to pay that. I’ll travel anywhere in the world, it doesn’t bother me.” But the father of two became visibly upset at the thought of leaving his two sons, aged 13 and 7, at home.

“I’m looking at working abroad while they are still here. It has to be done,” said John, whose preference would be to go to Canada.

“I’ll go out and see what happened. A fellow has got to make money. You won’t make money looking at the four walls. I left school at 16 because I had a job and I’ve worked since I was 16. This is the first time in my life drawing the dole.”

Ryan Wood (29), a carpenter originally from London, was queuing with his partner Jamie Keyes (24) and their baby daughter Leila (three months).

Mr Wood has been out of work for a year and a half and has been involved in voluntary work schemes since then. “We’re looking to go anywhere so I can get work as a carpenter,” he said. Ms Keyes, a Montessori teacher, is currently on maternity leave.

The couple, who live in Wexford town, travelled to Dublin on Sunday for the Working Abroad Expo there, but did not get in. “There wasn’t a hope of getting in through the gates,” he said. He plans to initially go abroad on his own and for his family to follow him. “It has to be done,” he said.