‘It didn’t fall into place immediately but we knew there were more opportunities here’

Eimear Beattie (36) and her husband Anthony (39) made the final decision to move to Australia almost overnight. Things had stagnated in Ireland, Mr Beattie was finding it increasingly difficult to get work and they both felt it was time to go back to the country where they had met as backpackers a decade earlier.

Eighteen months ago, they packed up the contents of their house in Rush, Co Dublin, and flew with their two children to Perth. They had their third child last October.

"We were determined to make a success of our life," says Ms Beattie, who is originally from Donegal and a PE teacher. "We had always talked about coming back to Australia. We love sport, we love the weather and Perth is great for that.

“It didn’t fall into place immediately . . . we had to be patient, but we knew there were more opportunities here.”

With Australia experiencing a shortage of secondary school teachers, the Beatties were offered permanent residency.

The number of skilled Irish emigrants arriving in Australia has doubled since 2008.

In 2011-2012, when the Beatties arrived, 4,938 Irish nationals were granted permanent visas through the migration programme. Another 10,130 were issued temporary subclass 457 visas for skilled workers sponsored by Australian employers.

Ireland now accounts for about 8 per cent of all subclass 457 visas issued. Only the United Kingdom and India get more, but on a per capita basis, Ireland is way out in front.

President of the Melbourne-based Irish Australian Chamber of Commerce Colin Egan, who has been in Australia since 1995, has noticed the change in immigration patterns.

“We are seeing many more young professionals coming through. They are usually in their 20s and early 30s, with backgrounds in accounting, financial services and construction.

“Pre-2007-2008, they were happy where they were [in Ireland] but may have lost their jobs and come over here looking to develop a career and most of them don’t see going home as an option in the short term.”

Ms Beattie helped to set up a Facebook group for Irish families in Perth last year and it already has more than 2,300 members. A similar group in Melbourne has about 300.

The groups are often the first stop for new arrivals looking to build a support network.

Emigrants on temporary visas or on the working holidaymakers programme, which allows young people to work casually in Australia for up to two years, use them to seek out advice on finding work and extending their visa.

Australia’s department of immigration recognises that a growing number of working holidaymakers see the programme as a pathway to long-term employment and eventual permanent residence.

The Beatties are keen to stay in Australia. “We just can’t see things getting better in Ireland and we love life here,” Ms Beattie adds. “I know there are plenty of people out here by necessity who want to go home and can’t, but I genuinely love it here and I can’t imagine going back.”