ANALYSIS:The diaspora represents an obligation and a resource for the Irish in Ireland, write ROB KITCHIN and MARK BOYLE.
IN APRIL 2007, the then minister for foreign affairs Dermot Ahern stated that the time was right to "review our approach to our community across the globe and to develop a strategy for the years ahead". Later in the same year, the economic commentator David McWilliams, in his book The Generation Game, argued that Ireland should seek to "exploit the demographic potential of the diaspora" to reinvigorate the nation.
Meanwhile, throughout her presidency, Mary McAleese has continually highlighted the extraordinary story of our diaspora, including most recently during the Presidential Lecture Serieson RTÉ Radio One over the new year period.
While Ahern and the President were more interested in developing the ongoing relationship between Ireland and its diaspora, and McWilliams was keen to explore what the diaspora could do for Ireland, both recognised that the time was right for Ireland to consider how it wants to engage with the global Irish diaspora in the future.
The current credit crunch will undoubtedly change the ground rules, affecting as it will flows of migrants, philanthropy, remittances, venture capital, and welfare support between the Irish in Ireland and their kin overseas. But there is a case to be made that social, cultural, political and economic global networks will be even more important in the years ahead.
To think of Ireland as a globally connected nation of 70 million people, rather than a small country on the periphery of Europe, is a more powerful way to think and proceed.
The Irish diaspora has been a long time in gestation and has assumed a different guise in different places and at different times.
Currently, its relationship to Ireland is entering a new era. Until very recently, the number of emigrants leaving Ireland and joining the diaspora had shrunk remarkably and many of those who left in the late 1980s had returned. Moreover, the traditional imperatives that have helped to maintain a strong Irish identity across generations have weakened.
Anti-Irish racism, while still present to a certain extent, has reduced significantly. Despite the recent downturn, the economic position of Ireland has been radically transformed and the need to provide remittances and philanthropy has dissipated.
The need to mobilise in relation to the so-called Irish question in the North has lessened given the peace process. For younger members of the diaspora, long-established groups such as the Ancient Order of Hibernians no longer appeal. The result is ageing membership and slow decline.
For us, the Irish diaspora constitutes both an obligation and a huge potential resource. It is an obligation because Irish citizens, on the one hand, remain Irish citizens and, on the other, because many of them continue to serve Ireland while overseas.
The work of the Department of Foreign Affairs reflects this with a network of embassies and consulates to help Irish citizens and the Irish Abroad Unit to support the 1950s generation who sent back billions in remittances and are now in need of welfare assistance and to oversee the maintenance and development of our communities abroad.
The diaspora is a massive potential resource because the millions of people worldwide who claim some Irish ancestry possess an abundance of skills, knowledge, contacts, business acumen, and financial and political resources that could help Ireland as it tries to rebuild its economy.
The diaspora can help push inward investment towards Ireland and it can aid Irish companies trying to break into new markets overseas. Enterprise Ireland is well aware of this potential and, as well as setting up its own business networks, such as Techlink and Biolink, has helped many others.
But it should not be a one-way street. There must be benefits in the relationship for the diaspora also. That is why, for instance, the new Irish network in Silicon Valley is so interesting; the Irish Technology Leadership Group, comprising Irish people in senior positions in the high-tech world of Silicon Valley, are seeking to invest in Irish companies, partly because they want to make a contribution to promoting Ireland, but also because they see this initiative as a good and profitable enterprise for their members as well.
Another group to consider is the diaspora of other countries currently resident in Ireland. In 2006 just under 10 per cent of the population was born outside of the State. Many of these immigrants have developed a significant sense of place and an affinity for Ireland.
If and when they leave, as many are now doing, there is the potential for them to continue to play for Team Ireland as they have done while resident. The Polish, Lithuanians, Nigerians, Chinese, and others, form an affinity diaspora that could help Irish companies do business in new locations or help companies place orders to Ireland.
For us, developing a successful ongoing relationship with the Irish diaspora requires the development of a coherent diaspora strategy that has three key ingredients.
First, the strategy should recognise that the relationship between Ireland and its diaspora needs to be reciprocal. The diaspora should not be seen as a primed resource waiting to be exploited, but rather as a precious resource to be tended, valued and re-energised. Ireland should aim to grow in partnership with the diaspora for the mutual benefit of each other.
Second, the fostering and maintenance of a sense of Irish-mindedness should be a primary goal, not a secondary outcome. Irish-mindedness is a prerequisite for creating a sustainable relationship with the Irish diaspora – if one does not feel or have affinity to Ireland why would one maintain a relationship with and do work for Ireland?
Third, the role of the State should be to guide, facilitate, add-value, co-ordinate across, and help fund schemes, and to maximise the capacities and potential of organisations.
In other words, the State and its agencies should help existing networks and organisations, and establish new, light and flexible schemes and networks.
Many countries around the world are putting into place diaspora strategies. Several of these countries – Australia, Chile, India, Jamaica, Lithuania, New Zealand, Scotland, plus the World Bank – are attending a workshop today and tomorrow, organised by NUI Maynooth. They are coming to Ireland in order to share their experiences of formulating and implementing policy, and to think through new ways for states to engage with and serve their diaspora.
Interestingly, these countries envy Ireland’s relationship with its diaspora and are keen to learn what Ireland currently does – and it does do some things well, such as incubating Irish business networks, fostering Irish-mindedness by supporting cultural and sporting activity, cultivating philanthropy, and providing overseas welfare assistance.
There is no doubt, however, that Ireland can do much more. Our hope is that by learning from best practice elsewhere the Irish Government will continue to formulate, develop, and implement a strategy that strengthens our relationship with the diaspora – a strategy that will be the envy of the rest of the world.
- Rob Kitchin is director of the National Institute for Regional and Spatial Analysis at NUI Maynooth. Mark Boyle is professor of geography at NUI Maynooth. Their working paper outlining a potential diaspora strategy for Ireland can be accessed at: http://www.nuim.ie/nirsa/research/documents/WP37_BoyleandKitchin.pdf